Peter and the Starcatcher

Peter and the Starcatcher was a holiday family show at freeFall and one of the largest sets the company had built to that point. Charles Murdock Lucas’s framework set turned the studio into a canvas for many different locations within a single physical space. With limited moving lights available, the design did its location-shifting through color and isolation, with precise focus on conventional instruments doing the differentiation work.

The crocodile encounter was one of the show’s central design moments. Two red moving light circles projected on the cyc became the creature’s eyes. Red balloons popped into place as pupils. Actors manipulated pennant flags to suggest the mouth. Low-tech, hand-built, and far more engaging than anything technically complex could have been. The collaborative invention of the moment was the point.

Two specific instrument choices supported the show. A Source Four Lustr mounted on a specialty follow-spot yoke, operated by a human technician, was freeFall’s first dedicated follow spot. It gave us precise visibility control during key moments. Source Four Minis doubled as both instruments and props, with actors grabbing and manipulating them through various scenes for shadow play. The fixtures performed alongside the actors instead of just lighting them.