Lee Fiskness

Photos of Model

First Produced at Northwestern University

Production Photos

Design Statement

Amanda Dehnert’s production of Peter Pan does not take place in a picturesque storybook world.  Instead, it is set in an abandoned warehouse with unfinished decking, scaffolding, planks, and a web of thick ropes and pulleys; a perfect place for children to play.  This unfinished world is filled with child figments of the past, who replay the snapshot of our childhood memories by telling the story of Peter Pan.  The imagination can create worlds that are both fantastic and frightening.  This production explores the full range of those experiences.

The lighting in the production is designed to cross between the reality of the industrial, unfinished world surrounding children, and the creative and exciting imagination they create.  Lighting seeks to find the right emotional energy within each moment and match that energy with a quality and intensity of light. 

The lighting starts very industrial with shafts of light shooting through the architecture, and quickly jumps into the imagination of the storyteller. The audience is invited into the experience with the lighting surrounding them.  Bare light bulbs positioned throughout the audience activate the space, bringing an intimacy and a sense of inclusion to the spectators as they are asked to turn them on with pull chains.  Shadows playfully bounce around the space as actors crawl over and around the structures.  Fear and danger are evoked with the harsh and blinding backlit entrance of the pirates.  Their shadows invade the space inciting a sense of danger.  The contrast of warm and cool tints of color follow the pirates as they seek to destroy the lost boys.  

The imagination of the children continues to change the world surrounding them.  Deeply saturated colors provide a beautiful home for Wendy, while a single flashlight allows them a dark and mystery lagoon to explore.  Their underground fort is created with a canopy of tightly focused lights projecting beams over their heads.  The mood shifts with blinding up-lights with the attack on the pirate’s ship.  The epic pirate ship fight is intensified with light circling around the action, while huge shadows cover the walls and floor. Each moment the figments experience is translated with strong and bold lighting to bring the audience back to the imagination of the childhood.