First Performance Rumours

[Carrie]

Hello fellow Peter Pan fans:

I am also working on my dissertation, and one of my chapters focuses on the similarities between consuming early versions of Peter Pan and experiencing our modern adaptations of it today. In the section that I'm currently writing, I'm trying to collect audience reactions to the first performance of the play (on Dec. 27th, 1904). Roger Green's _Fifty Years_ and Andrew Birkin's _J.M. Barrie and the Lost Boys_ have been very helpful. In Birkin's biography, I came across the following reference: "Wild rumours soon began to appear in print about the nature of Mr Barrie's eagerly awaited new play, and the Duke of York's management were obliged to recruit additional guards to stop enterprising journalists from sneaking into the theatre" (110). Does anybody know where these "wild rumours" occurred or what they said? Since they appeared "in print," I'm hoping that I can track them down.

Thank you for your help. I love this site, and I know I'll be using it much more in the future!

Carrie

[SingsWithRavens]

Interesting dissertation idea!
A good place to start looking for "rumors" (particularly primary sources) would be GoogleScholar. I'd recommend a JSTOR, Academic Search Complete, and a handful of other lovely online journal databases, but I've searched a majority of them already for info on Peter Pan but I don't recall finding anything regarding public response to the play/movie adaptations.
Checking just now on EBSCO, I've found an article titled "A Hundred Years of Peter Pan" written by Peter Hollindale (Children's Literature in Education, Sep2005, Vol. 36 Issue 3, p197-215). It may be worth a look...
Regarding more modern takes on the story (ie. Disney's Peter Pan, Spielburg's Hook, and Hogan's Peter Pan (2003 live action)), you'll no doubt be able to find some critical reviews of their release. If I recall correctly (it's been more than ten years since I've seen it), Disney released some background information on the production of Barrie's original as well as the animation and production of their movie at the end of the presentation. You may be able to access this on YouTube, and, if not, it's no doubt still on the DVD (or VHS, if you prefer).
It would be interesting to note in your dissertation how the presentations of Peter Pan have changed from year to year, commenting, for example, on the evolution of political correctness. One of the more recent productions of Peter Pan (by the Royal Theatre of Scotland, I believe), omitted the Indians from their production because of the now racist lines and remarks found in Barrie's original script.
Best of luck on your research and writing!

[GOSH]

SingswithRavens has some excellent suggestions. I haven't been able to find the source of the 'first performance rumours' either but another book that might help in your research is Bruce Henson's 'Peter Pan Chronicles'  first published in 1993 (a new edition is due out soon), which concentrates on the various stage versions (as well as films) over the ages.

Disney included the archive material in their latest 2-disc Special Edition which came out in 2007 (I don't think it's available as VHS).

SingswithRavens also made a good point about how political correctness has affected new adaptations of Peter Pan. The National Theatre of Scotland omitted all references to the Indians and replaced Tiger Lily with a she-wolf princess.  Threesixty Entertainment production (who opened out in Kensington Gardens in 2009 and is currently touring the US) only retained Tiger Lily. Wendy Darling also tends to be portrayed in a more feisty way these days.

Good luck with your project. I'm sure we would all be very interested in reading your dissertation!

[SingsWithRavens]

(How did I know I'd get the National Theatre of Scotland wrong? .____.' ) Goodness!

[Carrie]

Thank you so much for your suggestions. I am familiar with Henson's
_Peter Pan Chronicles_ (although I didn't know they were releasing a
new edition) and Hollingdale's _Hundred Years of Peter Pan_(he
expanded on the article in his book of the same title). I've also
scoured the databases pretty thoroughly. Unfortunately, I still
haven't come across any information about those first performance
rumors. I think I'll have to keep digging into the archive in hopes of
coming across them, so if you happen to come across anything, let me
know!

The political implications of the different adaptations are
fascinating, and it's something I certainly want to look into. I have
heard of the National Theatre of Scotland production, but I didn't
realize that they made such significant changes. I'll have to look
into that further. Thank you for the tip.

One idea about the adaptations that particularly interests me is how
they affect our understanding of the overall Peter Pan text. For
instance, when you read Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, do you
automatically have the Peter and Wendy story in mind? Or when you read
about Hook, do you automatically think about his future as Hook? Do
you think we can ever really detach ourselves from these adaptations
when we read the earlier versions?

[KStirling]

Hollingdale's _Hundred Years of Peter Pan_(he
expanded on the article in his book of the same title).

Have never come across Hollindale's book of the same title, and since I am (mildly obsessively) trying to compile a complete bibliography of Peter Pan criticism (don't laugh), this disturbs me! Could you send me the full reference? Would be much appreciated.

Is your dissertation a PhD dissertation? Based on what you've already said, I'd be fascinated to hear more about it, either on or off forum.

[GOSH]

Peter Hollindale's A Hundred Years of Peter Pan was an article originally published in the publication Children's Literature in Education in 2005. It has since been included in Children's Literature Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends published in the UK by Palgrave Macmillan in 2009 and in the US by Rutgers University Press in their collection of essays under the title Second Star to the Right - Peter Pan in the Popular Imagination.  Hope that helps.

[KStirling]

Thanks, I know the article and the reprints of it. But no BOOK expanding on the article, as Carrie mentioned? I've found no trace of it, but she made me wonder. Does GOSH maintain a bibliography of PP criticism?

[GOSH]

I think (although I may be wrong) that Carrie referred to the original article, published in full by Springer in Children's Literature in Education (2005), which was later edited for the Palgrave Macmillan edition. I haven't seen the Rutgers edition, so I don't know if it's been abridged as well. As far as I know, Peter Hollindale's article has never been published on its own, but always as part of a compendium of articles on the subject.

We do hold a number of books published over the years on Peter Pan and JMB, which have usually been donated to the hospital, mainly from UK publishers. I'd be happy to give you more information about these, if you write to me at peterpan@gosh.org.

[Carrie]

Hi KStirling,

GOSH is right, I was just thinking about a reprint of the original article. I must have had a major brain lapse when responding to your post. Sorry about that. I'm sure you've probably already heard of it, but if not, Donna White and Anita Tarr's _Peter Pan In and Out of Time_ might be another text to add to your bibliography

 I am working on a PhD dissertation (the Peter Pan material is for one of the chapters), and I would love to talk to about our shared interests further!

Thanks, I know the article and the reprints of it. But no BOOK expanding on the article, as Carrie mentioned? I've found no trace of it, but she made me wonder. Does GOSH maintain a bibliography of PP criticism?

[Rinnleys]

(How did I know I'd get the National Theatre of Scotland wrong? .____.' ) Goodness!

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