South Philly Review

“Peter Pan” has been passed down for generations since is debut more than a century ago and the most recent take is at the Arden Theatre, with several locals taking on multiple roles in the family classic.

“It becomes easier the more you do it,” Sarah Sanford, of Fourth and Tasker streets, said of her characters as Mrs. Darling, the pirate Starkey and Lost Boys The Twins and Tootles. “Personally, I have quite a bit of experience doing that kind of thing” citing 2008’s “The Government Inspector.”

“I love it,” David J. Sweeny, of Ninth and Dudley streets, added about playing Michael, the pirate Smee and the Lost Boy Slightly. “I love being able to switch hats really quick. I just think of it as singing three different songs. It keeps things really interesting.”

In the production adapted from the J.M. Barrie books and running through Jan. 31, local David O’Connor directs a cast that also includes Bi Jean Ngo, of 12th and Montrose streets, as Wendy’s daughter Jane, the fairy Tinker Bell, Indian princess Tiger Lily, pirate Bill Jukes and Lost Boys Nibs and The Twins.

The three auditioned in the summer and were sent off with the script and five roles and asked to collaborate on their development, O’Connor said.

“There’s just a lot of the ways we kind of work — we play,” the resident of Ninth and Reed streets said. “There’s a lot of playing and trying ideas out.”

Though cast by September for the Dec. 5 debut, the Lost Boys and Pirates were not assigned until the 48-hour-a-week rehearsals in November. When it came to the Lost Boys, the actors had the added challenge of operating heavy puppets made from garden tools, beautician products or cleaning supplies and bringing each representation to life. During rehearsal, they were able to get to know their Lost Boys and find out how to move and work them with the puppet-makers, Sanford said.

“At first, Tootles, his head didn’t look up and I was like ‘he’s got this long nose and is naïve, so he’s got to be able to look up in that sort of naïve state,’ so that was something I asked for,” the 34-year-old said of developing the character.

Tinker Bell was set to be chimes and bells, but based on the book’s mention of a secret language known only to Tink and Peter, it soon turned into Ngo translating it into Vietnamese. But at first she shook the chimes and spoke gibberish, Ngo said.

“Then I would throw in Vietnamese here and there and people thought it was really funny,” she said.

“They showed it to me and I fell in love with it,” O’Connor added. “It’s right on and sounds magical.”

Even though the storyline is geared toward children, it doesn’t affect performances too much, O’Connor said, but being more meticulous is necessary.

“With kids, everything has to be true and right,” he said. “I think adults are more ready to forgive or gloss over or make connections on their own. Kids you can’t put anything dishonest up there because they will point it out.”

Sanford was a dancer until a string of injuries resulted in switching passions. She became hooked on acting after a high school production of “Hamlet” and studied theater at Swarthmore College and later physical theater, which concentrates on the body, at Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris.

Since the Woodbury, Conn., native joined the Pig Iron Theater Company in ’01, she has performed across the city and abroad, including a trip to England that inspired “Appetite,” her creation and directing debut that examined human cravings. It earned her Best Emerging Director honors at the Toronto Summerworks Theatre Fest in ’05 before its move to Philadelphia last year.

For the past two years, Sanford has been nominated for the F. Otto Award for Emerging Philadelphia Theatre Artist and last year Philadelphia Magazine dubbed her Best Up-and-Coming Theatre Talent.

“That was a great recognition,” she said of the latter. “We work so hard and we get very little financial reward in this profession and it’s encouraging when all of your hard work is recognized in that way, especially when you’re really devoted to this community [of artists].”

Growing up in Fairfax, Va., Ngo acted, but opted to pursue screenwriting at Boston University.