For Peter Pan on her 70th birthday
by Sarah Ruhl

Name: For Peter Pan on her 70th birthday
Brand: Sarah Ruhl
SKU: 9780573705342
Rating: 3.89 (1 reviews)

For Peter Pan on her 70th birthday Cover

For Peter Pan on her 70th birthday Book Cover — For Peter Pan on her 70th birthday Cover

Highlights

Female

Male

90 mins1990sEnsemble CastUnit Set/Multiple SettingsComedy

What readers are saying

Readers appreciate the heartfelt exploration of family and loss in this play. Many find Sarah Ruhl's writing both charming and thought-provoking, with a blend of humor and nostalgia. Despite some mixed feelings about character numbering and pacing, the emotional depth resonates strongly with audiences.

Heartfelt exploration of familyCharming and thought-provokingEmotional depth and humorCharacter numbering is confusingPacing can feel mechanical

Synopsis

For Peter Pan on her 70th birthday; An elderly woman and her siblings become J.M.

Barrie's classic characters in Sarah Ruhl's play about a family grieving over the death of their patriarch.

Press Reviews

"A work that is equal parts dark and light, recalling the ebullient excitement of youth, but also confronting the hard fact of mortality… Ruhl’s imagination is among the most adventurous at play today in the theater.” – The New York Times “Sarah Ruhl imbues the fantastical with a singular logic that is only hers but becomes yours during the course of the evening. She gives a map to a kind of preternatural joy; only when the curtain comes down do you remember that we cannot fly, time travel, or conjure our departed loved ones.” – Mary-Louise Parker “Having For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday to transport me back to my childhood now that ‘no one is standing sentry between (me) and death’ is a gift for which I lack adequate words to thank the playwright who wrote it for me."
— Kathleen Kehoe Ruhl (the playwright’s mother)

"There is an intrinsic lyricism to Ruhl’s ideas as well as her language in this work... Ruhl’s writing also gives voice to a binding love between siblings that overcomes conflicting beliefs."
— The Courier-Journal

Characters

Character	Gender	Age	Description
2, John in his late 60s. Plays John in Peter Pan.	male	60s	in his late 60s. Plays John in Peter Pan.
3, Jim in his mid-sixties. Plays Captain James Hook in Peter Pan.	male	—	in his mid-sixties. Plays Captain James Hook in Peter Pan.
4, Michael in his early sixties. Plays Michael in Peter Pan.	male	—	in his early sixties. Plays Michael in Peter Pan.
5, Wendy in her late fifties. Plays Wendy in Peter Pan.	female	—	in her late fifties. Plays Wendy in Peter Pan.
George in his eighties. In part 1, a dying man; in part 2, a ghost; in part 3, himself.	male	—	in his eighties. In part 1, a dying man; in part 2, a ghost; in part 3, himself.
1, Ann between 60 and 70. Plays Peter Pan.	—	—	between 60 and 70. Plays Peter Pan.