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PRESENTSStudy Guide for EducatorsA play by RICK ELICEMarian Theatre: Feb. 12 – Mar. 1, 2015Solvang Festival Theater: Aug. 21 – Sept, 13, 2015Based on the novel by DAVE BARRYand RIDLEY PEARSONMusic by WAYNE BARKERPCPA – Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts

Table of ContentsWelcome to the PCPA / Theater Etiquette.1How to Use This Study Guide. 2Production Team and Cast. 3Elements of StoryStory Synopsis. 4Themes.8Key Words. 9Elements of ProductionDesign Concept.10About the Authors. 11Context of the Play. 12ActivitiesDiscussion Questions.13Student Activities.14Key Words Quiz. 15Quiz Answer Key. 16

Peter and the Starcatcher Study Guide – page 1We l c o m e t o t h e P C PAA NOTE TO THE TEACHERThank you for bringing your students to the PCPA at Allan Hancock College. Here are some helpful hints foryour visit to the Marian Theatre. The top priority of our staff is to provide an enjoyable day of live theater foryou and your students. We offer you this study guide as a tool to prepare your students prior to the performance,and to prompt discussion, critical thought, and creativity after the performance.SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDENT ETIQUETTENotable behavior is a vital part of theater for youth. Going to the theater is not a casual event. It is a specialoccasion. If students are prepared properly, it will be a memorable, educational experience they will rememberfor years.1. Have students enter the theater in a single file. Chaperones should be one adult for every ten students. Ourushers will assist you with locating your seats. Please wait until the usher has seated your party before anyrearranging of seats to avoid injury and confusion. While seated, teachers should space themselves so they arevisible, between every group of ten students. Teachers and adults must remain with their group during the entireperformance.2. Once seated in the theater, students may go to the bathroom in small groups with the teacher's permission.Please chaperone younger students. Once the show is over, please remain seated until the House Managerdismisses your school.3. Please remind your students that we do not permit: food, gum, drinks, smoking, hats, backpacks, or large purses disruptive talking disorderly and inappropriate behavior (stepping on/over seats, throwing objects, etc.) cameras, iPods, cell phones, beepers, tape recorders, handheld video games (Adults are asked to put any beepers or cell phones on silent or vibrate)In cases of disorderly behavior, groups may be asked to leave the theater without ticket refunds.4. Teachers should take time to remind students before attending the show of the following about a liveperformance:Sometimes we forget when we come into a theater that we are one of the most important parts ofthe production. Without an audience there would be no performance. Your contribution oflaughter, quiet attention, and applause is part of the play.When we watch movies or television we are watching images on a screen, and what we say or docannot affect them. In the theater the actors are real people who are present and creating anexperience with us at that very moment. They see and hear us and are sensitive to our response.They know how we feel about the play by how we watch and listen. An invisible bond is formedbetween actors and a good audience, and it enables the actors to do their best for you. A goodaudience helps make a good performance.The PCPA welcomes you as a partner in the live theater experience from the moment you take your seats. Wehope that your visit will be a highlight of your school year.

Peter and the Starcatcher Study Guide – page 2HOW TO USE THIS STUDY GUIDEThis study guide is a companion piece designed to explore many ideas depicted in the stage production of Peterand the Starcatcher. Although the guide’s intent is to enhance the student’s theatrical experience, it can also beused as an introduction to the elements of a play and the production elements involved in the play’spresentation. While many students are familiar with the story of Peter Pan, this specific stage adaptationanswers many questions about the origins of Peter Pan and Captain Hook, in addition to presenting a wealth ofnew questions for this generation to answer. The guide has been organized into three major sections:Elements of StoryElements of ProductionActivitiesTeachers and group leaders will want to select portions of the guide for their specific usage. Discussionquestions are meant to provoke a line of thought about a particular topic. The answers to the discussionquestions in many instances will initiate the process of exploration and discovery of varied interpretations byeveryone involved. This can be as rewarding as the wonderful experience of sight and sound that Peter and theStarcatcher creates onstage.It is recommended that the play and one of the following films or books be used in conjunction with discussionof the theatrical elements of the production:Films: Peter Pan (1953), the animated film produced by Walt Disney. Rated G. There are references to thisanimated film in the play Peter and the Starcatcher. Peter Pan (2003), the live action film directed by P. J. Hogan. Rated PG. This version is consideredmore faithful to J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan than Walt Disney’s animated film.Play: Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie, first published in 1904. This is the original play that started it all!Books: Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie, published in 1911. This is the novel version of the play Peter Pan.This book is in the public domain, and is available online for free. Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, published in 2004. This is the novelthat the play Peter and the Starcatcher was based on.

PCPAPeter and the Starcatcher Study Guide – page 3A play by RICK ELICEBased on the novel by DAVE BARRY and RIDLEY PEARSONMusic by WAYNE BARKERCREATIVE TEAMDirector Brad CarrollMusical Director Matthew R. MeckesScenic Designer Heidi HofferCostume Designer Cathie McClellanLighting Designer Jennifer ‘Z’ ZornowSound Designer Andrew Mark WilhelmDialect/Vocal Coach Kitty BalayProduction Stage Manager Jahana Azodi*CAST OF CHARACTERSMollyJillian OsborneBoyCody WittlingerBlack StacheMatt KoenigLord AsterAndrew Philpot*Smee / GreggorsMichael Jenkinson*PrentissMike FioreTedChad PattersonMrs. Bumbrake / TeacherGalen SchlomingAlfNathaniel AndalisCaptain ScottPeter S. Hadres*Slank / Hawking ClamGeorge WalkerFighting Prawn / Grempkin / Mack / SanchezLeo Cortez* Member, Actors’ Equity Association

Elements of StoryStory SynopsisPeter and the Starcatcher Study Guide – page 4(page 1 of 4)Note: Characters appearing in the play are emphasized in bold.Act OneMrs. Bumbrake, to Rundoon on asafer route aboard a merchant shipMolly and her father, Lordcalled the Neverland. Lord AsterAster are traveling to the distantgives Molly a magic amulet thatkingdom of Rundoon on anmatches one he wears; they can useimportant, top secret mission forthese special amulets toQueen Victoria of England. Thecommunicate with each other.royal mission: Lord Aster mustdestroy the mysterious contents of aBefore the two ships leave, thetrunk. Lord Aster takes thewicked captain of the Neverland,Queen’s trunk onboard the fastestBill Slank, sneaks the Queen’sship in the sea, the Wasp, captained trunk off of the Wasp and hides it inby Robert Falcon Scott. Alsohis cabin aboard the Neverland,joining Lord Aster aboard the Wasp Slank leaves an identical trunk fullis a group of British Navy seamen, sand in its place.led by Lieutenant Greggors. LordWhile on the Neverland, Mrs.Aster sends Molly and her nanny,Bumbrake and an old seamannamed Alf become smitten witheach other. Molly meets threeorphan boys: the intelligentPrentiss, the food-obsessed Ted,and a quiet but perceptive Boywithout a name. These three orphanboys were put on the Neverland bytheir abusive schoolmasterGrempkin, to be sold as snake foodfor the pet snake of the evil KingZarboff of Rundoon.Meanwhile, on the Wasp,Lieutenant Greggors corners LordAster. Greggors reveals that he isactually Smee the pirate! CaptainScott and his crew have been tiedAndrew Philpot* as Lord Aster, Cody Wittlinger as the Boy (Peter), Jillian Osborne as Molly

Elements of StoryPeter and the Starcatcher Study Guide – page 5Story Synopsisup by the Navy seamen, who arealso pirates! The pirates are led bythe fearsome and poetical BlackStache (the future Captain Hook),the last pirate in the business.Black Stache steals Lord Aster’skey to the Queen’s trunk.On the Neverland, Molly’samulet begins to glow, telling herthat her father’s in trouble. Then,Molly, the Boy, Prentiss, and Teddiscover a glowing light and ringingsound coming from Slank’s cabin.They open the door and find a trunkand a flying cat! It’s the Queen’strunk! Molly doesn’t want to revealthe secret of the Queen’s trunk tothe three boys, so she distracts themwith a bedtime story: SleepingBeauty.Meanwhile, Black Stacheunlocks the trunk and finds nothingbut sand. They all realize that theQueen’s trunk must be on theNeverland. Black Stache turns theWasp around to chase after theslower Neverland.Lord Aster uses his amulet totell Molly what’s happening, andthat as soon as the Wasp catches upto the Neverland, she needs to bringthe Queen’s trunk to him. The Boycatches Molly talking to her amuletand confronts her about it and thetrunk. Molly explains that theamulet and the Queen’s trunkcontain starstuff, a magic substancethat falls to earth from the stars.Molly warns him that starstuff is(page 2 of 4)dangerous—it changes peopledepending on what they want to be—and that’s why her father needs todestroy it. Molly’s father is aStarcatcher, a person with specialpowers who works to keep starstufffrom falling into the wrong hands.Molly herself is a Starcatcher intraining.Slank catches Molly and theBoy outside their cabins and throwsthe Boy overboard. The Boy can’tswim, so Molly dives in after him.She saves him, bringing him backonboard the ship.Finally, the Wasp is approachingthe Neverland, just as a huge seastorm begins. The Boy manages toturn the Neverland around; the Waspcatches up and Black Stache andhis pirates board the Neverland.Black Stache and Slank begin anepic “sword” fight (a rhyming wordbattle) when suddenly the sea stormsplits the Neverland in half.Slank tries to steal the Queen’strunk from Molly and Mrs.Bumbrake, but Alf comes to theirrescue and throws Slank overboard,never to be seen again. The Boydistracts the pirates in order to buytime for Molly to get the Queen’strunk to her father. The Boy meetsBlack Stache, and when BlackStache finds out the Boy doesn’thave a name, he decides to give himone: Peter. However, when BlackStache realizes the Boy—nowPeter—was stalling for Molly, hethrows Peter overboard. Mollydecides to throw the Queen’s trunkoverboard for Peter to grab onto.As the ship falls apart in thestorm, Mrs. Bumbrake and Alf,Prentiss and Ted, and Molly jumpinto the ocean. They all swimtoward a nearby tropical island. AsPeter also floats toward the island,the Queen’s trunk leaks a strangegolden light into the sea.Act TwoMeanwhile, on the tropicalisland, Ted and Prentiss find Peterguarding the Queen's trunk on amountain. The boys hide the trunkand head into the jungle in search ofMolly. The three boys quicklybecome surrounded by theMollusks, a group of nativeislanders. They meet the leader ofthe Mollusks, a man namedFighting Prawn, and his son,Hawking Clam. Fighting Prawnhates the British; he was taken fromhome as a boy by the British andforced to work as a kitchen slaveuntil he was able to escape back toMollusk Island. The Mollusks planto feed the boys to Mister Grin, thevicious crocodile living on theisland. Peter makes a deal withFighting Prawn: if the boys canentertain them, they won't have todie. The boys decide to performSleeping Beauty, the story told tothem earlier by Molly. However,the boys don't remember the story