Featuring an all-student cast, ‘Lost Girl’ explores growing up and friendship beyond Neverland

Sept. 18, 2023

In its first show for the 2023-24 season, Theater Emory presents “Lost Girl,” opening Thursday, Sept. 28, in the Schwartz Center Theater Lab.

Long after returning from Neverland, Wendy decides she must find Peter Pan to reclaim her kiss and move on with her life. Along the way, she meets other girls who went to Neverland and learns she’s not alone.

A coming-of-age exploration of first love and lasting loss, “Lost Girl” continues the story of J.M. Barrie’s beloved character Wendy — the girl who had to grow up.

Written and directed by Kimberly Belflower, assistant professor of dramatic writing, “Lost Girl” won the 2018 Kennedy Center Darrell Ayers National Playwriting Award. Inspired by the novel “Peter Pan,” “Lost Girl” explores Wendy’s heartbreak as she remembers her time in Neverland.

“I’d heard the term ‘Peter Pan syndrome’ a lot — boys who never grow up. But when a friend diagnosed me with ‘Wendy Darling syndrome’ because I was always trying to save the little lost boys, the seed of this play was planted,” Belflower explains. “‘Peter Pan’ is perhaps the closest thing we have to contemporary mythology. This common cultural touchstone anchors us and creates a shared vocabulary to explore the messiness and confusion of growing up.”

This play explores the Pan mythology from Wendy’s point of view while she’s on a journey to save herself. Belflower’s “Lost Girl” gives a voice to young women, by providing a space to tell their own stories and encouraging them to take up space in the world.

“In the writing of this play, over and over again, Wendy Darling’s story has helped me grow up,” says Belflower. “Beyond Neverland is real life, with less of the fear of growing up and the realization that real life can be just as magical.”

The all-student cast includes Emory MacLaughlin, Sam Hanson, Rehema Karuri, Sarah Lim, Maya Nair, Zeke Rezzarday, Noah Lihan, Zack Gunter, Erin Devine, Makalee Cooper and Emi Fernandez.

Set design is by Raquel Jackson, costume design is by Jen Madison, and light and sound design is by Brent Glenn, director of undergraduate studies in theater studies.

“Lost Girl,” presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc., will close on Sunday, Oct. 1. The Schwartz Center will host a closed captioning performance on Friday, Sept. 29, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 1, at 2 p.m.

Tickets are available on the Schwartz Center website or at the Schwartz Center box office. Directions and additional information can be found online or by calling the box office staff at 404-727-5050, Monday-Friday, 12-6 p.m.

Emory University students can book up to two free tickets for this production by providing their Emory email during the check-out process. Students who book free tickets must present their student ID with their tickets at the performance.

About Theater Emory

Theater at Emory unites faculty and student research, integrating classroom and laboratory, to entertain and engage multiple communities. Theater at Emory encompasses the Theater Studies Program, Theater Emory, the Playwriting Center and Student Theater.

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