Theatre
Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up
J. M. Barrie · 1904
Synopsis
Three Darling children sleep in a London bedroom watched over by a dog. A boy comes in through the window to recover his shadow, which has been shut in a drawer; Wendy sews it back on for him and he takes her away, with her brothers, to learn to fly and to live in the Neverland. There are lost boys who have no mother, Indians, mermaids and a captain who is missing a hand, pursued by a crocodile that has swallowed a clock. Wendy plays the mother and tells bedtime stories.
Context
The play was first performed on 27 December 1904 at the Duke of York's Theatre in London, and was staged every Christmas for decades; the title role was played by an actress, as it would be for a century. The character had appeared two years earlier in a book for adults; the story for children came only in 1911, under another title, and its author revised the play for years after the first performance.
Who it is for
A play in five acts, performed everywhere and translated. What people know of it most often comes from the adaptations: the text is harsher and sadder than they are.
Prizes and reception
Performed every winter since 1904; its author gave the rights to a children's hospital in London in 1929, and a British law guarantees it royalties in perpetuity.