LOHS theater program took a darker turn with their new fall production, “Lost Girl.” This play delves into the mental health of a post-Neverland Wendy Darling from the classic tale, “Peter Pan.” Struggling to return to her normal life after her adventures with Peter Pan, Wendy searches for closure and a way to reclaim the parts of herself she gave to Peter. The story is told through Wendy’s conversations with her doctor, therapist, detective and her friends (the Lost Boys). The show has more of a serious tone than would be expected from a story based off of a Disney fairytale, but the complexities are what makes the story interesting. 

Through creative set and lighting choices, the LOHS theater department has truly brought the story to life in The Black Box at the school. The show starred juniors Karin Bradshaw as Wendy Darling and Connor Ramsey as Slightly, one of the Lost Boys. In comparison to past plays, “It’s definitely the most emotional. I mean the last part I played was a robot, so anything is more emotional, but she’s a really difficult role just because of how I have to break down crying during multiple times in the show. When I’m not in that state before, it’s hard to fake it,” Bradshaw said. 

For those who don’t know, The Black Box is a smaller theater in the performing arts hallway. Many of the productions at LOHS, such as the senior directed “One Acts,” are done in this space rather than the auditorium. The Black Box works best to accommodate smaller crowds; “Performing in The Black Box is a much more intimate experience because the audience is right in front of you. Sometimes on the stage, you have a hard time seeing them because it’s so dark out in the audience, but I feel like in Black Box shows, you can connect more” reflects Ramsey.

Throughout the show, there are various scenes where many of the characters gather around Wendy and have a joint monologue where each of them says a different line to complete a thought. These scenes portray the rumors being spread about Wendy, expressing concern for her situation. Bradshaw shared that “the ‘ABC’ chorus parts” were the toughest scenes in the show. “It was really difficult to get everyone in sync and the timing for that was really important. Also, making it so that each ‘ABC’ had a different character was really hard for everybody. But, I think we did it well,” she said. 

“Lost Girl” is a modern take on a classic group of characters. Bradshaw describes her character as angry and complex unlike the Disney version of Wendy who she claims is “kind of flat in how she’s presented. She doesn’t have a lot of depth.” On the other hand, Charlie Crandall, who played Peter Pan, has never seen the movie. His inspiration mostly came from “Superbad” actor, Jesse Eisenberg; “I like that dude,” he said. 

Behind the scenes, “everybody was so fun, they were just all really nice people,” Ramsey said. “Sadly, we didn’t get to see each other a lot during the rehearsal process because if you weren’t in a scene you wouldn’t go [to rehearsal], but when the shows came around we all got really close in a short amount of time,” he added. 

“It was just really fun and everybody was very welcoming. I just had a good time, and I’m glad that I did it,” Crandall said.