About the work
Peter Pan is the stage version of the story of the boy who would not grow up, created by the Scottish writer J. M. Barrie. Barrie introduced the character in his play "Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up," first performed in London in 1904; the novel "Peter and Wendy" followed in 1911. It tells of Peter Pan and the fairy Tinker Bell, who carry the girl Wendy and her brothers off to Neverland — a realm of lost boys, pirates and mermaids where no one grows old. The material has been adapted in countless stage, musical and film versions; at its heart always lies the ambivalent longing for eternal childhood.
Plot
In the Darling family home in London, Peter Pan appears one night in search of his lost shadow. He teaches Wendy and her brothers John and Michael to fly and takes them to Neverland. There they are taken in by the "lost boys" but must hold their own against the sinister Captain Hook and his pirates, who have a score to settle with Peter — ever since he cut off the hand that a crocodile then swallowed. After adventures on the high seas and in the mermaids' lagoon, Peter triumphs over Hook. Wendy, however, realises that she does not want to remain a child forever, and returns home with her brothers.
Cultural significance
J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan is among the most influential figures of modern children's literature and became a cultural symbol of the longing for eternal youth — even giving rise to the psychological catchphrase "Peter Pan syndrome." Neverland, the flying children and the ticking crocodile belong to the fixed imagery of popular culture. Barrie bequeathed the rights to his work to a London children's hospital. On stage the material thrives on flying magic, adventure and the melancholy question of what is lost in growing up.