Lost Girl Finds Its Way to LWHS

On November 2nd, cast and crew members of Lost Girl, Lick-Wilmerding High School’s 2023 Fall Play, gathered behind the curtains to prepare for the opening night of their production. The crowd of LWHS students and  families murmured in anticipation of the celebrated Peter Pan spin-off.

The production starred Soluna Ibarra-Tacdol ’26 as the lead, Wendy Darling. The play covered deep and reflective topics, including mental health, love and heartbreak. But the serious moments within the play were balanced with comedic and poignant scenes that made the audience laugh and empathize with the characters.

Miguel Zavala, Theater Teacher and Director of the After-School Theater Program, explained his thoughtful process in selecting this year’s LWHS Fall Play. “[I ask myself,] why this play, why this play now, [and] why for this community?” Zavala said. After the pandemic, he decided that he wanted to produce a play which focused on fundamental human truths that audiences could relate to, such as heartbreak, letting go and moving on.

Lost Girl, winner of the 2018 Kennedy Center Darrell Ayers National Playwriting Award, was written by Kimberly Belflower and inspired by the original play, Peter Pan, written by James Matthew Barrie. Peter Pan came out in 1953, when a major philosophical movement was emerging, often referred to as the “Cult of Childhood.” According to ARTSATL.org, a nonprofit arts journal based in Atlanta, this movement was a profound shift from society’s negative view of childhood to a romanticized idea of it. 

In the original Peter Pan, Peter’s inability to grow up directly mirrored the widespread longing to preserve childhood that arose during the movement.

Similarly, in Lost Girl, after Wendy’s return home, she yearns for her childhood experiences with Peter Pan while denying her transition into adulthood at 19. Throughout the play, she refuses to pack up her nursery, where she met Peter Pan, and reminisces on her past. However, at the play’s end, Wendy reunites with Peter Pan and realizes that she can move on without him. Wendy’s journey urges other teenagers who are unwilling to grow up to gain power over their narratives.

Though Zavala has directed many contemporary plays at LWHS, this one was unique. “The story deals with what happens in the mind, and how those thoughts, memories and emotions are manifested into reality,” he said.

The prologue, a scene not included in the original play, was staged by Zavala and choreographed by Performing Arts Department Chair and Dance teacher Tabatha Robinson. According to Zavala, its purpose was both to foreshadow the thematic events of the play and remind audiences about Peter and Wendy’s interaction in the original story. 

The script of Lost Girl was originally written in stanzas, mirroring that of poetry. Zavala noted that this style of playwriting called for an emotional delivery by the actors and an enchanting set by the production team. He was prepared to help the students with this challenge, and the final production, according to many audience members, was a hit. 

On opening night, the audience was buzzing with anticipation before the actors took to the stage. “Everyone was really excited; the lights were dimmed and on stage they had…blue and purple lights. The set looked amazing,” audience member Salihah Cann-Polentz ’25 said. 

The production did not disappoint. Ibarra-Tacdol received high praise from audience and production members alike, as she remained on stage for the entire duration of the play. She has previous acting experience from her middle school and past LWHS productions and was thrilled when she was cast as the lead. 

Audience members regaled the acting skills of the entire cast and the beautiful set designs. The Lost Boys, played by Clark Wilmerding ’24, Artemis Boda ’27, Siddharth Chibber ’26 and Matthew Yan ’26, were a captivating and much-needed comedic relief from the emotionally intense play, according to audience member Ava Dornseif ’25. 

The girls, played by Nola Kra-Caskey ’26, Athena Wolff ’26 and Emilia Duncan ’26, provided a creative element to the play through their enchanting choreography and line delivery from their own bright-white rolling windows, which were designed by LWHS’s stagecraft class.

Other actors, such as Aksh Varma ’25, Nala Urrutia ’25, Thalia White ’25, Daniel Wydler ’26 and Lazlo Martinez ’26, provided a variety of storylines and plot turns throughout the play, keeping the audience on their toes.

According to Ibarra-Tacdol, she felt Wendy’s poetic monologues to the audience were very relatable. Throughout the play, Wendy misses Peter, and continues to repeat the line, “I give myself eight minutes a day to think about him [Peter Pan].” Ibarra-Tacdol reflected on Wendy’s self-regulating habit. “That was her way of keeping things orderly… trying not to lose control [of herself],” Ibarra-Tacdol said.

But, at the end of the play, Wendy stops thinking about Peter and focuses on her own identity. “[In her final monologue,] she was taking things other people said about her and making them her own,” Ibarra-Tacdol said. She later explained that Wendy’s self-acceptance was a main theme in the play.

Though Lost Girl was only 90 minutes long, the play left a profound effect on both the audience members and cast alike. According to Boda, the cast had a lot of time to bond with each other when they were not on stage. “[After] we memorized our lines, we started to talk [to each other] about whatever,” she said. These conversations fostered connections across grade-levels that would not have been possible without the production.

In addition to the actors’ contributions, the production team (consisting of the stagecraft class and of students who participate after school) plays a vital role in the execution of the show. According to Sarah Wolfe ’24, a stage manager, the students were granted many responsibilities during the actual production. Kate Boyd, the Stagecraft Teacher and Technical Director at LWHS, delegated the lighting and sound work to the students throughout the rehearsal process. On the day of the show, the students are given full responsibility of running the production and providing cues to actors off stage. 

Following 11 weeks of rehearsal, the 2023 fall play came to a close. After the final show, the actors, teachers and production team were proud to have successfully pulled off the LWHS theater department’s first 2023 performance. The theater department encourages students interested in the program to look out for upcoming LWHS productions, including the student-directed 2024 One Acts Festival and the Spring Musical, The Wizard of Oz.

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Juliana McDowell

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