The Golden Trident

Photos and Review by Olly Johnson

For their varsity show and their first show of the 2025 season, Stage Right Productions presents “Tinkerbell,” which might be the best production they have put on in recent memory. The story is going for a similar idea to the famous musical and movie “Wicked,” where the first act would set up the origin story of “Peter Pan,” so it can tell a more truncated and nuanced version of the original story in the second act. 

However, instead of following the villain of the story like in “Wicked”, “Tinkerbell,” as the name would imply, focuses on Tinkerbell (played by Avalon Bock) and her friendship with Peter Pan (played by Dylan Dwyer). It goes through all the unique plot moments from the story, such as the name of Neverland, the reason for Captain Hook’s titular hand, and the reason that Peter Pan brings the lost boys to Neverland.

More than any other show that Stage Right has done, “Tinkerbell” is built around one key idea: childhood wonder. Not only does the show’s program repeatedly mention it, but every picture of the staff members who worked on the show is replaced by baby photos. However, nothing represents this theme more than the set itself. 

The moment you walk into the theater, you notice that the set is modeled completely after a child’s playground. From the slides to the ladders to the swings to even a rope bridge, the set could realistically be used during recess for kindergarteners, and it doesn’t stop there. The entire set is littered with details, from flowers to tiny animals. In fact, the program even eggs on children to find these animals on set. 

Thankfully, the playground is used to the best effect throughout the whole production. It would be so easy for the show to simply move around the playground, for it to become an obstacle rather than an enhancer. The show dodges this fate, as they use every part of the playground to its full potential. The swings are used as both seats and beds, the rope bridge is a rope bridge in one scene, and the inside of a locked drawer in the next. 

They use trampolines to “fly” from Neverland to London, where the only difference between the two is the presence of streetlights and the lighting. This could be confusing to follow, but the way the show is written makes it understandable. They work with a wonderful set instead of working against it. Full of life and detail, the set is the most standout part of the whole show, and the only way to further announce a budget increase would be to yell it on the tallest peaks of the Rockies.

Of course, a performance would be nothing without the performers, and “Tinkerbell” had some of the best performances that Stage Right has seen. The titular fairy has all the trademark traits to the nth degree, from hyper energy to sadness to whimsy to even sassiness, which is often forgotten in the many retellings of “Peter Pan.” 

Similarly, Peter holds the same stature and attitude of a small child, perfect for the “boy who never ages,” though I lament that he never dons the iconic green and red outfit that most picture him with. The other actors kill it as well, with particular note of Captain Hook (played by Brady Mead) for his charisma and his stellar costume. This is all without mentioning the Crocodile (played by Katia Songer), who became an instant audience favorite. The sheer absurdity of the actress rolling around on stage on her belly with a skateboard with a big cardboard crocodile head plays wonderfully into the make-believe theme they’re going for, and is simply very funny. However, this all barely holds a candle to Smee (played by George McBride), who might be the most memorable and entertaining character to ever be performed in Stage Right history. No matter if it is as Captain Hook’s bumbling sidekick or as the show’s makeshift narrator, Smee has such a stage presence and is so fun to watch it makes the show a must-watch on its own.

The massive budget spent on the wonderful set does come with some evident downsides. One such casualty was a printed program, which is more of a personal nitpick than a real issue. One bigger downside is the lack of any cool technical elements. Sure, the lighting was pretty nice, in part due to the new LED lights installed during the summer. But nothing was to write home about, and some scenes could have really benefited from more technical stuff. For example, there is a scene late into the production where, to save Peter Pan, Tinkerbell drinks poisoned medicine and dies. Peter then calls to the audience to believe in fairies to revive Tinkerbell. While the acting is sublime, the scene is in complete silence otherwise, and, although it works without it, could have been taken to a greater level with just a simple, sad backing track. However, since they focused on the fundamentals, there were no major technical bugs with the lights or the notoriously finicky microphones.

Right from the moment you walk into the theater, Stage Right makes it particularly clear that “Tinkerbell” lives and dies on the set and the characters, and both are in their own league. The playground set will go down as one of the most ambitious in Stage Right’s history, and the characters are simply fantastic. The effort on display is, quite frankly, awe-inspiring. This is, as of now, the magnum opus of Stage Right’s close to a century-long history, and this show might signal a new wave of quality that is worth keeping tabs on.