Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
THE THEATER — School plays are a national treasure. You get impassioned performances, sets built with scrappy determination, flubbed lines, and the occasional onstage mishap.
For example, I once saw a couple of stray dogs wander onto the stage in the middle of the performance of "Hamlet" at my junior high. How did the dogs get there when all the exterior doors were closed? Who knows? It's the magic of theater!
Particularly impressive are the times when things go awry but the young performers are able to stay in character. And there has never been a better example of this phenomenon than this video, which shows Peter Pan smashing through Wendy's window like a scantily clad Kool-Aid Man.
Stage flying is always difficult. And the potential for chaos is increased when amateurs are assisting with the fly system. So it's not all that surprising to see this poor actor careening upside down through a window.
But the young actor steadies like a modern-day Laurence Olivier. As the wires lower Peter Pan toward the stage, the actor sticks the landing like a pro and turns to deliver the rehearsed lines.
can't wait for school plays again so we can get more moments like when my friend played Peter Pan pic.twitter.com/ECpdsDgt0w
— Nathan Cykiert (@nathancykiert) June 21, 2021
"Hello, Wendy!" the actor exclaims, with an intensity that can only be summoned after one has been catapulted through a window headfirst.
So this is a tribute to all those performers out there who carry on with absolute class even when things don't go right. You can't always control what happens around us, but you can still say hello to Wendy without skipping a beat.
Have You Seen This?
