In a whirlwind prequel to one of the world’s most beloved fairytales, “Peter Pan,” Edmond Memorial High School’s theatre department welcomed “Peter and the Starcatcher” to its stage on Oct. 9 and Oct. 11. With a witty cast, an enthralling set and a familiar plot, Memorial’s production of this engaging twist on a famous story deserved the standing ovation it received. 

The play, which is based on the 2004 novel “Peter and the Starcatchers” by Dave Berry and Ridley Pearson, provides a backdrop for the more well-known “Peter and Wendy.” The story follows Peter Pan, an orphaned boy, and Molly Aster, a young apprentice starcatcher, as they board The Neverland and set out on a journey to recover Queen Victoria’s missing treasure chest of “star stuff.” The ship is hijacked by the pirate captain Black Stache and his crew, and a power struggle over the treasure chest ensues. 

The story was supported by an incredible cast of actors, each of them truly buying into their roles and leaning into the utter silliness that the plot required. Each actor fit their role perfectly. Alexander Loughridge, who played Pan, Logan Rottmayer, who played Prentiss, and Colton Anderson, who played Ted, represented the main group of boys with childlike wonder that made each of them lovable and memorable to the audience. Their interactions with Aster, played by Mindy Piper, were both comedic and touching, which would not have been the same without the group of actors’ obvious understanding of their characters and their dynamics with each other. 

The villains were also well-cast, as Jensen Rottmayer and Braden Nieves performed as Black Stache and Smee as if they were genuinely born as those characters. Their onstage comedic chemistry made them into some of the funniest characters in the entire production, making their performances extremely memorable.

It was obvious that the entire cast worked hard to embody their characters through their use of accents. The characters in “Peter and the Starcatcher” are mainly British, so most of the actors adopted British accents to suit their characters. Arianna Bufford, who played Mrs. Bumbrake, and Nieves both adopted thick accents that fitted their characters wonderfully.