Character Breakdown

Cast size: Small to medium, 11-20 total

Cast Type: Ensemble Cast

Dance requirement: Minimal

Show Synopsis

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Peter and the Starcatcher is a prequel to Peter Pan based on the children’s book by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson and freely adapted for the stage by Rick Elice, with co-directors Alex Timbers and Roger Rees. For two-and-a-half hours, twelve actors make theatrical magic by playing dozens of characters: sailors, pirates, British naval officers, Mollusk natives and orphans in addition to eighteen major roles. The original Broadway production was a deliberately low-budget spectacle: an extravaganza of staging that relied on suggestion and storytelling rather than expensive set pieces like the chandelier in Phantom of the Opera or the helicopter in Miss Saigon. Elice’s script, jam-packed with poetry, fart jokes, gentle lyricism, and numerous nods to pop culture, is a coming-of-age adventure story about how a nameless orphan -- inspired by a remarkable and ambitious girl -- became the strange and celebrated hero that is the Boy Who Would Not Grow Up.

Character Breakdown

BLACK STACHE (Age 30-50) A notorious pirate, terrorizing the seven seas in search of a worthy adversary. Heartless, hirsute, and suspiciously well read. Partial to the poetical and theatrical, which causes him to behave quite flamboyantly 

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MOLLY ASTER (Age 16-25) A young girl and Starcatcher apprentice who is taken aboard the Neverland as precious cargo. Curious and intelligent, she is only beginning to understand the confusing romantic longings that come with her age. She will risk anything for the sake of what is right 

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BOY/PETER (Age 16-25) A lonely and hardened orphan who doesn’t miss much. Nameless, homeless, and friendless at the beginning of the play and a hero by the end. He wants a home and a family more than anything, and dreams of a life being free

GREMPKIN ( Age 40-60) The schoolmaster of St. Norbert’s Orphanage for Lost Boys. Mean and malodorous, he revels in keeping his boys in the dark and malnourished. May double as Fighting Prawn, Mack or Sanchez

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MRS. BUMBRAKE  (Age 40-60) Molly’s nanny, a stereotypical British cad outfitted with the duty of teaching Molly about womanhood. She still has enough charm in her age to attract a sailor or two. May double as Teacher 

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BILL SLANK (Age 35-55) The vicious orphaned captain of the Neverland. Does not possess the capacity to lead anyone but himself, which puts himself constantly in disaster. Greedy enough to send boys to their doom for the chance of gaining starstuff. May double as Hawking Clam 

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SMEE/LIEUTENANT GREGGORS  (Age 25-55) Black Stache’s first mate. He is single-mindedly dedicated to his captain’s every whim 

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PRENTISS (Age 16-25) An orphan, ambitious, hyper articulate, and logical. He yearns to be a leader, even when he knows in his heart that he’ll never be one. A bit of a blowhard with a touch of cowardice

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ALF ( Age 50-60) A seafarer, an old sea dog proud of his tenure. His kind hart gives him an appeal to the feminine sensibility 

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LORD LEONARD ASTER  (Age 40-60) Molly’s father, a loyal subject to the Queen. The very model of a Victorian English gentleman, he is a faithful friend and a secret Starcatcher

CAPTAIN ROBERT FALCON SCOTT (Age 35-45) Lord Aster’s old school friend, the captain of the Wasp, Britain’s fastest frigate. Lives with nautical bravura and heroic patriotism 

TED ( Age 16-25) An orphan obsessed with food. A natural performer with easy wit and quite poetic language 

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FIGHTING PRAWN (Age 25-40) The fierce chief of the tribe of Mollusk Islanders, speaks almost exclusively in Italian cooking terms. 

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HAWKING CLAM ( Age 16-20) Fighting Prawn’s son 

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TEACHER (Age 20-40)  A wise and mysterious mermaid 

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MACK (Age 40-60)   The world’s most incompetent sailor 

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SANCHEZ  (Age 40-60) One of Black Stache’s crew

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ENSEMBLE of Sailors, Seamen, Seafarers, Pirates, Mermaids, Mollusks, Narrators