THEATER / CORINNE FLOCKEN : A ‘Peter Pan’ to Hook Young and Old Alike

With loads of action and some eye-popping visuals, the Theatrefaire for Children production of James M. Barrie’s “Peter Pan” is “young” enough to enchant a preschooler for most of its 2 1/2-hour length, yet offers older children and adults the benefits of Barrie’s considerable storytelling skills.

The staging by Theatrefaire artistic director Blake Gould, with a cast of 35 children and adults, continues through Sunday at the Irvine Barclay Theatre.

This is not the musical version but rather Barrie’s original play, which made its debut in London’s Prince Edward Theatre just after Christmas in 1904, and unless you are a Mary Martin junkie, the song and dance will not be missed.

If anything, their absence makes our slide from the real world to Never Land that much smoother. A flying boy we can handle; a flying, singing boy backed by a forest of dancing trees can be a little harder to swallow, especially if we’re trying to suspend our disbelief as we carry the burden of holiday stresses.

The non-musical format also underscores Barrie’s simple eloquence and allows the audience to absorb parts of the story that are excluded or glossed over in musical and animated versions.

We learn, for example, the reason for Peter’s eternal youth (as a baby, he overheard his parents discussing his future education and career, so he decided to never grow up), the pedigree of the Lost Boys (you had to be lost and unclaimed for seven days as an infant before you would be swept up by the fairies--a fate that befalls only boys, Peter explains, because “girls are too smart”), and how fairies are born (with a child’s first laugh) and die (when a child stops believing in them).

Some of the story’s darker sides are allowed to peek through briefly too, such as the anguish Mrs. Darling feels when she finds her children missing, and the way the loss transforms Mr. Darling from a blustery, self-righteous prig into a lost soul.

Grown-up frailties are seen through a child’s eyes and hence amplified: fearless pirates quiver and quake; sure-footed Indians trip over their own moccasins; unseen nursemaids thoughtlessly leave their charges unattended.

Faithfulness to the text does exact a price in terms of time, however. At Friday’s performance, some younger members of the audience just couldn’t make it through the third act, even with the arrival of set designer Wally Huntoon’s splendid 20-foot pirate ship, repeat appearances by a leering nine-foot-long crocodile (Brian J. McMillen) and Peter’s movie-idol-worthy rescue of Wendy and the Lost Boys.

And although it runs no longer than the previous two, this act’s somewhat awkward changes in scene, from the pirate ship to the home of the grown-up Wendy, requires more attention than some audience members, adults included, could afford.

As Peter, 15-year-old Nick Cagle is an able tour guide for this flight of fantasy, and he’s a director’s dream: copper-haired, cocksure and small and wiry enough to “fly” with aplomb. Jennifer Lambert’s Wendy is nicely understated, striking a balance between a girlish flirtatiousness and budding womanhood.

Mario Lescot, double cast as Mr. Darling and Captain Hook, makes the most of his roles’ melodramatic aspects, flourishing his lacy cuffs and his sword with equal relish. Occasionally, though, his extravagant style upstages his role as storyteller and, as in an odd a cappella song and dance with Mr. Smee (Gordon Yeaton) and in some too-obvious sight gags, strays too far into cartoonishness.

Ensemble work is strong, particularly by the pirates and a co-ed band of Indians. The Lost Boys, all children, are less evenly matched, but J. Michael Tryon has plenty of spunk as Peter’s second-in-command. The clashes among the three groups, choreographed by Christopher Villa, are delightfully unbalanced (the kids almost always skunk the bad guys) and full of high energy.

‘Peter Pan’

A Theatrefaire for Children production of the play by James M. Barrie, directed by Blake Gould. With Nick Cagle, Mario Lescot, Cathryn Leng, Eric Pina, Dominick Rich, Jennifer Lambert, Scott Barnhardt, J. Michael Tryon, Gordon Yeaton and Brian J. McMillen. Set design by Wally Huntoon. Lighting by Chris Medvitz. Costumes by Mary Ann Fueger and Buzz Tryon. Sound by Todd Maier. Stage combat choreographed by Christopher Villa. Continues at the Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine, today and Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., Thursday at 4 p.m., Saturday and Sunday at 2 and 7:30 p.m. (no performance Christmas Day). Running time: 2 1/2 hours. $12 to $15. (714) 654-4646 or (714) 740-2000.