Washington Post - Somewhat Recommended
"... If your temperament is suited to some of the colder considerations of “Peter Pan” — the beloved tale of the boy who defies nature by refusing to grow up — then this inventive though uneven production, written and directed by Lluberes, will strike you as a novel spin on a dramatic chestnut. As embodied by the economical cast of seven, some of the various buccaneers, Indians and Lost Boys are more scrupulously rendered than others; while Hodsoll is affecting as Mrs. Darling, her vocally shrill Captain Hook comes across a few pints short of bloodthirsty."
MetroWeekly - Highly Recommended
"... Though its long first act does get a bit lost in its imaginary world and could stand for trimming -- the show runs a whopping two hours and 30 minutes --Rules's Peter Pan regains its real-world footing in Act 2, when the link to what's real and what's imagined is made plain. The story of Peter Pan will endure, a grown Wendy Darling tells us at play's end, as long as children remain ''gay and innocent and heartless.'' Sounds like a mighty long time."
Washington City Paper - Recommended
"... Megan Graves does a fine job with Wendy’s enthusiasm at the prospect of being adopted as a mother to the lost boys, and her gradual disappointment at Peter’s refusal to grow up at least enough to learn the difference between a thimble and a kiss. As Peter, John Evans Reese is petulant and feral, leaping around the set as though he can outrun the spectre of maturity. I’m not sure it’s necessary for the entire cast to affect English accents (Jennifer Mendenhall is the dialect coach) just because it’s an English story; it makes the Lost Boys, in particular, sound more alike—and more shrill—than they otherwise might. Joshua Morgan, one of No Rules’ co-artistic directors, provides musical direction. The sung version of William Butler Yeats’ poem “The Stolen Child,” with its refrain, “the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand,” is the kind of grace note that puts this show over the top. By the time we get to the haunting coda, we’ve been well and truly seduced."
BrightestYoungThings - Recommended
"... Now, if you're like me, your memories of this tale about the boy who refused to grow up conjure images of a flying kid in tights, a glittery fairy, and a crew of boys imagining posh dinner parties. Pretty fab, right?No Rules' rendition is equally fab but with a majorly emo slant. The show opens in the Darling Family's nursery, and immediately darkens when the audience realizes that the family is burying their youngest son, Michael. The ensuing grief sets a tone for the rest of the performance and is the impetus for Wendy and John Darling to take flight at the second star to the right and straight on 'till morning."
ShowBizRadio - Highly Recommended
"... The production is an original view on a long cherished story, and it is easy to tell that a lot of love went into the crafting of the characters, even as the grueling story takes its effect on their mentalities. Peter is broken by his loss of family, being always young and never knowing the joys of love. Wendy is hurt by Peter’s carelessness, Hook is devastated by the youth he can never have, and the Lost Boys are confused and crippled by their lack of knowledge of reality. The imperfect nature of these characters makes them all the more real, makes them whole, and shows the audience the realities of childhood in all their sweetness and pain."
MD Theatre Guide - Highly Recommended
"...Director and Adapter Michael Lluberes has gone back to J.M. Barrie’s original novel Peter and Wendy to create a more gritty and sometimes disturbing take on the classic story of the boy that wouldn’t grow up. Peter (John Evans Reese) is considerably more jaded than you are used to seeing him. He has a very grim outlook on mothers and wishes death upon them. Captain Hook is played by a female (Lisa Hodsoll) which is what Barrie had always intended in his stage productions. This production also has a unique way of flying in the show. It’s a very inventive production."
DCTheatreScene - Somewhat Recommended
Peter Pan always did seem like a rather difficult creature, as far as immortals go. Anyone with such a steadfast refusal to mature or learn anything useful can’t be entirely pleasant to be around for that long – and remember that, unlike most eternal beings, Pan is this way because he chooses to be, because he rejects the real world, not because he’s been cursed or wished upon or any such thing. With that attitude, any wonder one of J.M. Barrie’s abandoned titles for his 1904 play was Peter Pan: The Boy Who Hated Mothers?
