By Josh Buntin, Jared Valleskey, Cooper Wild & Charlotte Tenebrini Steckart
“It’s that girl! What girl? The one who ran away!”
The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Theatre & Dance department presents Lost Girl. Written by Kimberly Belflower, Lost Girl is a coming-of-age story featuring the character Wendy Darling, a character associated with Peter Pan. The play follows Darling after she leaves Peter Pan and Neverland to return to her life in the real world. In the story, Darling learns that she must let go of her experiences with Peter Pan, readjust to life at home, and find her own identity outside of Peter Pan and Neverland. The play is not simply a retelling of Peter Pan but rather is inspired by the story of Peter Pan and remade to make the story relatable to contemporary times.
The Theatre & Dance department at the UWGB put on a production of Lost Girl with four shows from February 29 to March 2 in Jean Weidner Theatre at the Weidner Center for the Performing Arts on UWGB’s Green Bay campus. The play was directed by Dr. Rebecca Stone Thornberry, an associate professor of Theatre & Dance at UWGB. The Fourth Estate spoke to Thornberry and members of the cast about Lost Girl and what all went into putting on the play.
Thornberry said the department chose Lost Girl because they thought it would appeal to audiences who are familiar with the Peter Pan story. There have been countless adaptations of the Peter Pan story, and the Lost Girl story is written as a continuation of the original 1904 story of Peter Pan rather than some of the Disney and other adaptations of the story. McKenzie “Kenny” Thompson, who served as the dramaturg for the production in addition to portraying Peter Pan, said that they had to collect information about the particular play, the characters in it, and anything else the rest of the cast and crew would need in order to put on the production effectively. While they said it wasn’t difficult finding information on Peter Pan directly, Thompson said, “I think the most difficult thing was just making sure that information was accurate because there’s so much of that information out there that it’s just that you can kind of get lost in what’s actually accurate and what isn’t.” The actors used Thompson’s research to gain information on their characters and inform their performances. Samuel Lownik, who portrayed Slightly, a character who develops a crush on Wendy Darling, said his portrayal was a mix of the resources Thompson provided and then “just looking at the text and analyzing the text and being like, what? What does he say? How does he say it? What is he speaking in response to? and all of that kind of built up what I have for something now, which is, you know, he is the younger guy,” in addition to his new feelings for Wendy.
Thornberry explained the process for putting plays such as Lost Girl together. Auditions for the play took place in November 2023, while Thompson began their work as a dramaturg in December, and the cast and crew began rehearsals and stage-crafting in January and February after the start of the new school term. Thornberry explained, “We’ve had about six weeks total to work on it outside of auditions and starting work on dramaturgy and design meetings started before that.” Thornberry herself said that she hadn’t had a regular day off while working on this play, and the cast and crew spent multiple hours a night rehearsing for the play. She estimated that about 120 hours had been put into the play over the six weeks they had prepared for it, with three-hour rehearsals every weekday night and working on the weekends to prepare.
The opening night of the play was February 29 at 7:30 pm at the Jean Weidner Theatre. There was a strong turnout at the play, with the theater almost packed. UWGB Chancellor Michael Alexander was also in attendance at the play. When the doors were closed, and the lights dimmed, weeks of hard work by the cast and crew finally came to fruition. For 90 minutes, the story of Lost Girl came to life. The cast hit their marks and followed their cues, moving on and off stage like seasoned professionals. Wendy Darling, played by Olivia Smith, was the star of the show and was on stage for almost the entire duration of the play. Thompson recounted how “she’s off stage one time, and every time she goes, she gets a sip of her water and then comes on stage with me. And yesterday, she, like, stared at the water bottle, was debating whether or not to take the sip. Took it anyway and then came on stage.” At the conclusion of the play, as soon as Wendy left the stage, the crowd erupted into a standing ovation, which persisted as the cast came out one by one and took a bow for the audience. “I love going to performances like Lost Girl. Live performances give us the chance to be present. The main character, Wendy Darling, faced the challenges of growing up. It reminded me of when I was that age. I connected with Wendy and her need to be seen and loved. It was a touching story, and I’m glad I got to experience it,” Valeria Tavarez, a Communication student, told The Fourth Estate after attending the play.
In November 2023, UWGB announced that it was considering discontinuing several majors and minors, Theatre & Dance being among them. The theatre would be discontinued as a major but kept as a minor. No decision has been made yet, but the possibility of the cut has sparked significant outrage and debate among students and the community at large. The potential discontinuation of the major has received extensive media coverage. Theater is a prominent fixture of UWGB and its Green Bay campus, with Theatre Hall and the Weidner Center on campus for students to perform in and for the community to enjoy.
Thornberry said while no decision has been made yet, they are looking for solutions. Thornberry said that the Theatre & Dance major is more demanding on students than other majors. She noted the amount of time the cast and crew of Lost Girl spent on the production. She added that students don’t have to be theatre majors to take part in the production of plays, but the major is certainly at the core of these productions, and the discontinuation of the major would have a profound impact on plays like Lost Girl. “And so losing the major, we fear, would not really open it up to other students so much as it would simply decrease our ability to offer what we offer to all the students. And we want to welcome people at any level if they want to watch theater and not be in it or participate in any way other than as an audience member,” Thornberry said.
UWGB student Blake Larson spoke to The Fourth Estate about the potential discontinuation of the Theatre Major. Larson mentioned, “I think that making an attempt to close the department is a mistake and a disservice to this campus and community.” Larson went on to add that while his degree may not be affected, it would limit the amount of classes he’d be able to take. He believes the major should remain, or at least the university should explore other options instead of cutting it outright. According to UWGB, if the major were to be cut, the minor would remain. “Doing more to promote theatre and the arts, garnering more attention for it, creating opportunities for young students and the theatre-curious to learn and witness the things we can do, would be more beneficial than cutting a major by making a decision based on slightly lower numbers than previous years,” Larson said.
Theatre & Dance benefits not only those who want to be actors, such as Thompson, Lownik, and Lasee, but also those who wish to be behind-the-scenes talent, such as Larson. The major can introduce students to other aspects of theater they may not have been interested in before they enrolled, but they were able to find their passion and build a career out of it. Theater is a multi-billion dollar industry in Wisconsin, and there are many jobs out there for it. Contrary to stereotypes, students can pursue a career in theater at home in Wisconsin instead of having to go to New York or California to fulfill their dreams. UWGB offers many opportunities for students to get involved in the industry as students, gain experience, and build their portfolios. Lost Girl is just one example of the importance of theater not only to the university but to the Green Bay community and the state of Wisconsin at large.
