For Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday
Sarah Ruhl
The Pear Theatre
In a tribute to her own mother’s 70th birthday, prolific and award-winning playwright Sarah Ruhl has penned a play featuring a woman much like her mom along with her mom’s four, adult siblings. Both in the play and in real life, her mom is an actress whose lifelong career began as a child in Davenport, Iowa where she once played her favorite role ever, that of Peter Pan.
The Pear Theatre opens a charming, well-directed-and-acted For Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday. Roughly based on real-life events and people, Ruhl’s play focuses on the subjects of aging, coming to terms with one’s mortality, and the role of fantasy and dream in helping us through the journey of life. Even though the playwright does little in her script to advance these topics beyond the mundane and the obvious – an issue that has been critically noted since the world premiere at Humana Festival Theatre in 2016 – this Pear production on its intimate stage works delightfully well, surprising this reviewer who overall panned (excuse the pun) that original production.
For my complete review, please continue to Talkin’Broadway.
Rating: 3.5 E
For Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday continues through March 3, 2024, in production by The Pear Theatre, 1110 La Avenida, Suite A, Mountain View, CA. Tickets are available at https://www.thepear.org .
Photo Credit: Sinjin Jones
