Long Before Wendy by Katie DiPietro
Cast of Characters
(in order of appearance)
PETER: (m.) Brother to PAX and NANA. Wild, excitable and dark,
ambitious
WENDY: (f.) Main storyteller, in love with PETER. Calm, expressive,
thoughtful. At odds with KENNA (the only character that can see
WENDY).
PAX: (m.) Brother to PAX and NANA, in love with MEARA. Charismatic,
loyal, fun, a dreamer.
NANA: (f.) Sister to PAX and PETER. Naïve, devoted, honest, silly
with a sassy streak.
CAPTAIN: (m.) Father of MEARA, CAPTAIN of the Jolly Roger. Cruel,
Protective, Intense, cold. Has a complicated relationship with MARGOT.
Also the voice of "father."
MARGOT: (f.) Pirate first mate. Assertive, thoughtful, clever, tough.
Has a complicated relationship with CAPTAIN. Also the voice of
"mother."
SPECS: (m./f.) A whole mess. A member of the pirate crew of the Jolly
Rodger. Delightfully blind as a bat, sassy, goofy.
SLIGHTLY: (m./f.) A whole mess. A member of the pirate crew of the
Jolly Rodger. The unofficial leader of the pirate trio. Irresponsible,
naïve to a fault.
WELLS: (m./f.) A whole mess. Always missing the point of
conversations, not the brightest, expressive and friendly.
MEARA: (f.) Daughter to the CAPTAIN, in love with PAX. Warrior,
fiery, intense, also a dreamer.
KENNA: (m./f.) A Siren and old friend of the CAPTAIN. All-knowing,
mischievous, dark, sly, an instigator, constantly "haunting"
WENDY.
[SPECS, SLIGHTLY, WELLS, and KENNA can be cast as any gender. Pronouns
can be changed for performance purposes, as casting indicates. The
roles of SPECS and WELLS are written as male and SLIGHTLY and KENNA
are written as female in manuscript in accordance with original
casting.]
SCENE
Beginning in the London playroom of the three children, PAX, NANA, and
PETER. Transitioning to Neverland The treehouse in the middle of
the forest, the deck of the pirate ship.]
TIME
Before World War II.
NOTE
The production is meant to be presented as a multi-media piece. Most
scenes should be accompanied by tracks or live
musicians. Tracks/music can be chosen at the director's discretion.
Staging Note: At times, characters directly address the audience. When
characters are intended to break the fourth wall, the line is
indicated with "TA" which signifies "to the audience."
ACT 1, SCENE 1:
SETTING: A child's playroom in London, pre-WWII. There are books,
toy weapons, and a small box strewn across the ground. A large window
stands in the corner.
AT RISE: PETER and WENDY stand on opposite ends of the stage in the
playroom. WENDY is in shadow while PETER is lit with dim light. As he
sings, WENDY approaches slowly. PETER does not look at her. The mood
is mysterious and intense. PETER sings the beginning of the Island
Lullaby (see Index A)
PETER: (sung) The sails are set, anchors away.
Close your eyes and remember.
The island calls you home, again.
Hush, WENDY Darling, it's time to sleep
[PETER exits the stage, leaving WENDY alone. She collects herself,
turns away from where PETER exited and addresses the audience]
WENDY: Everyone knows the story of PETER Pan, the courageous young man
who ruled over Neverland with a band of lost boys, fought the evil
pirate CAPTAIN and fell in love with WENDY. This story is wonderful
and exciting and most importantly, altogether untrue. You see, the
real story begins like this:
[Enter PAX and PETER. The mood becomes playful and friendly]
PAX: (TA) We'd been raised by the same parents in a lovely house in
London. Our mother and father always treated us equally. We grew up
happily, PETER and I. And on the eve of our 17th birthday, we lay
awake in our beds discussing all sorts of adventures together, when we
heard it.
Mother (voice of MARGOT): (offstage) George, stop shouting, you'll
wake the boys! In any case, why do we have to know now what our young
men will do once they're grown? They can be anything they want to
be. You're too impatient with them!
Father (voice of the CAPTAIN): (offstage) cutting her off angrily:
"It matters. Trust me it matters! We've fed them, we've
clothed them, and we've put up with their nonsense for far too long.
At some point, we're playing a game and not teaching them to grow
up!
Mother (voice of MARGOT): (offstage) I will not hurl them out onto the
street.
Father (voice of the CAPTAIN): (offstage) It's where they belong.
They're carelessdangerous, even. One day, they won't come home,
and you'll be relieved.
PETER: That man is high strung. He doesn't understand the virtue of
rest and relaxation.
PAX: I wonder if he means it, this time.
PETER: Nah, he's been threatening to chuck us out since we were
seven.
PAX: You have to admit, we haven't been the easiest.
PETER: Are you kidding?
PAX: We haven't!
PETER: Oh, *blows raspberry*whatever
PAX: Remember that time you talked me into getting a bucket and
PETER: (cutting him off) Regardless of your memories, I'm sure
we've made a better impression as young men (puffing up his chest
impressively).
[PAX mimics PETER]
PETER: That looks bad when you do it.
PAX: *blows raspberry*
PETER: Rude!
WENDY: The boys had been plotting for years to escape in pursuit of
fortune and fameadventures.
PAX: Every time we fall asleep, we wake up a whole day older. Soon,
we'll be grown up. We won't need to play anymore. Real things will
happen to us!
PETER: (suddenly dark) We don't need to grow up
PAX: PETER
PETER: (cutting him off) Growing up is like surrender! It's not an
option.
WENDY: PETER often confided that he would rather walk the plank of a
pirate ship, surrounded by crocodiles than surrender to a proper job.
He would never grow up and neither would PAX if he had any say
about it.
PETER: PAX, we have to leave. We have to leave tonight! Now is our
chance. We'll slip into the shadows and cause all kinds of trouble.
PAX: PETER, you don't need a shadow to cause trouble. Anyway, where
will we go? It's not like we can wander around London at night.
You've talked me into some dumb ideas before, but this one is
flat-out dangerous.
PETER: Fine, we'll find somewhere that isn't London; somewhere
full of possibility.
PAX: Liverpool?
PETER: No! I'm talking about somewhere that you only hear about in
horrifying and abominable stories; someplace where no one ever grows
up.
PAX: *snapping his fingers* Michigan. (Insert rival state/city/college, etc.)
PETER: This is serious, PAX.
PAX: I know, I know.
PETER: There are a million places in our books. We just have to pick
one.
PAX: How are we going to get there?
PETER: (thoughtfully) We should make a map. Everyone on adventures has
a map, right? Everything always starts with a map. We'll check the
books and see if we can find any good ones to follow.
PAX: We'll be together forever! You, me, and our adventures!
PETER: Just us or we won't do it at all!
WENDY: Then, the boys pulled out their storybooks, found a map that
would do, and packed everything they could imagine anyone would need
on a grand adventure.
[PAX passes items to PETER, then PETER packs them into a bag]
PETER: Pocket knife?
PAX: Check!
PETER: Slightly bigger knife?
PAX: Check!
PETER: Dagger?
PAX: Check!
PETER: Second dagger?
PAX: Also check.
PETER: Wait, where's Tink?
WENDY: Sweetly, the boys pulled a very old, and delicately ornate
compass from its small box in the corner.
PETER: This compass is the only thing I've ever wanted from Father,
you know? It will belong to one of us sooner or later.
PAX: PETER, do you think Tink will be able to guide us? I think she
might be getting a little battered. Maybe we should leave her here.
PETER: Are you crazy? We can't leave Tink! She knows all the best
places to find trouble. We can't abandon her.
PAX: Abandon her?
PETER: This might sound strange, PAX, but I don't think we're ever
coming back.
WENDY: All at once and with a spirit of laughter, they started toward
the window. They'd almost reached it when something stopped them as
unexpectedly as a cannon ball smashing into the side of a ship.
[Enter NANA]
WENDY: They'd forgotten NANA.
NANA: (Playfully scolding) Where are you boys going in the middle of
the night? I'm sure it's nowhere without me.
PETER: (In a side whisper to PAX) I've said it once and I'll say
it again: NANA has magic.
PAX: (In a side whisper to PETER) She has ever since the day Mother
and Father brought her home.
PETER: (In a side whisper to PAX) NANA is tricky.
PAX: (In a side whisper to PETER) Tricky is fantastic.
[As the WENDY speaks, NANA takes her time circling the boys. She pulls
the bag off of PAX's shoulder and investigates its contents]
WENDY: NANA often crept into her brother's room after mother put out
the lamps. Together, they would always tell her the most exciting
stories of places past the stars with Pirates and Indians and Magic.
Both boys spoke fondly of NANA. She was exactly what every little
sister should be. She was reasonable and hardly ever tried to make
them play dress up. NANA also always seemed to know where to find
little bits and pieces and glimpses of magic. Though younger than both
of them, she was easily their favorite girl in the world. Her shiny,
eager eyes mirrored every opinion they had about how a young girl
should be.
[PAX gently pulls the bag from NANA's hands]
PAX: You can't go with us, this time, NANA. We're running away
forever.
PETER: There's nothing for you to do on our adventures, so you have
to stay here.
WENDY: As the boys started again for the window, they silently agreed
that this would be the best solution; Adventures were no places for
girls and sweet as NANA. (pause) but the twinkle in NANA's eye
had gone out.
NANA: (as pathetically as possible) I can't believe you would go
without me. How will you find magic? You know you're no good at it.
How could you leave me at home?
WENDY: PAX often panicked when NANA would worry. It had no effect on
PETER, though.
PETER: Calm down, NANA. It's nothing personal. You don't belong on
our adventure. It's a man's mission!
WENDY: NANA, quickly changed tactics.
NANA: (wildly) Have you lost your minds?! You want to leave me? Leave
me here to rot in our empty house? Alone and senile, broken and
abandoned, so I can grow up all alone and die miserably in a pile of
dust?!
WENDY: NANA possessed a rather spectacular flare for dramatics.
PETER: You're the worst.
PAX: What if we
PETER: PAX.
PAX: PETER, we have to take her with us. I promise she won't slow us
down. And neither of us know how to cookso, you know I like food
[NANA smacks PAX on the back of the head]
WENDY: Sometimes, PETER was frustrated with the way PAX doted over
NANA. It seemed like PAX liked her more than his own brother.
PETER: I suppose it doesn't matter to you that we're in this
together. We've spent every day together; shared everything. You get
to change the plan whenever you want? What about your family?
PAX: She's family, too, Peter.
WENDY: He resented the idea of sharing his brother even with his
sister
PETER: (handing over the shiny compass) Fine then. You'll be in
charge of Tink. If anything happens to her on our adventures, you'll
be sent straight home, do you understand?
WENDY: With a grin and a quick nod of her head, NANA agreed. She ran
to their old bookshelf and dragged out an old book that the boys
hadn't seen since they were young. The pictures had always stirred
something in the boys. There were pirates and magic and adventures on
every page.
[They kneel down to flip through the book]
PAX: Like usual, NANA, you've remembered the best places.
WENDY: This very special storybook spoke of lands in the clouds far
away, past the stars and across the moon's shadow. In no time, NANA
had given a triumphant smirk, shut the book and dragged the two boys
to the window. Young children seem to know all the directions to
magical places. The older one becomes, the quicker all magical
bearings are forgotten.
PAX: (to NANA) Whatcha doin'?
PETER: Have you forgotten that we're on the second floor?
NANA: I'll show you the way.
PAX: The way to
NANA: (stopping suddenly) I'll show you the way if you listen to my
warning- Remember, terrible things can go wrong if adventures aren't
taken seriously. If we step out of this window, we do it as a team. We
must be unconditionally loyal, or else risk everything. Magic has a
very solemn price.
WENDY: The boys agreed, though they didn't remotely understand what
Nana meant. Boys rarely have time to worry about trivial things like
rules. They grasped her hands and the three of them stepped out of the
open window and sped off past the second star to the right.
[End of Extract]