In J.M. Barrie's novel version of Peter Pan (hardcore Panheads know this as "Peter and Wendy"), Wendy's mother, Mrs. Darling, first discovers the name "Peter Pan" while sorting through her children's minds to tidy them up for the morning. She reaches back into the recesses of her own child mind in search of the reason the name feels vaguely familiar:

 

At first Mrs. Darling did not know, but after thinking back into her childhood she just remembered a Peter Pan who was said to live with the fairies. There were odd stories about him, as that when children died he went part of the way with them, so that they should not be frightened. 

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This simple little Pannish legend, which is never again directly addressed by Barrie's narration, was the first spark of The Neverland. As a child myself, I was fascinated by the strangely dark world of Peter Pan, and all its connections with death and fear. Many speculate that the untimely death of Barrie's 13-year-old brother, David, was part of the inspiration for the Darling children's adventure, and indeed, it is clear to the discerning audience that this experience deeply colored the playwright's imaginary world as well as his literal one.

 

Barrie's Neverland is dotted all over with threatening shadows that make it ripe for horror adaptation: lost children camp in secret under the ground, exposed to all the crawly things in nature, and face the real threat of violent death from all sides, including their own eternally childlike leader, who slits the throats of grown men in front of their eyes. The horrors that lurk just beneath the surface of Peter Pan's Neverland might, in fact, be one of the reasons the original story is such a classic with children, who, as much as we wish to shield them from such things, are almost without exception drawn to the macabre.

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Barrie's Peter Pan is dark enough standing on its own, but The Neverland is its own beast. While many Peter Pan inspired works center the Darling children and their specific adventure, in the world of The Neverland, the Darlings are never mentioned. Indeed, they may only be three in a long-forgotten line of children who have traversed the dangerous island and faced a fateful choice. 

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Our Neverland, like Barrie's, has come too close this time. It's the world of a child's imagination, and as such, it's filled with terrifying beasties; with danger around every shadowy corner. I hope, over the next hour, you connect to your Neverland with the awe and openness of your own child self.

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Love,

Zoë Rose Jennings

Playwright/Director