“Peter Rabbit’ performance has Olympia Family Theater actors on the run

Olympia Family Theater has its actors on the run with its latest production, “Peter Rabbit and Me.”

Much of the play is one long chase scene, as the naughty rabbit rushes to escape from Mr. McGregor’s garden.

“It’s super-fast-paced,” said Carolyn Willems Van Dijk, who plays Peter. “It feels like I’m running a marathon every day, but it’s super fun.”

“My poor actors,” said director Kate Ayers, herself an actor known for her facility with highly physical roles. “One mentioned that he no longer needs his gym membership.”

The show, opening Friday (March 18), tells the beloved story of “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” and gives a glimpse into the childhood of author Beatrix Potter, played by Willems Van Dijk.

Although it includes scenes set in the nursery of Potter’s childhood home, the play by Aurand Harris focuses on Peter’s adventures — chiefly his escape from the garden.

“From page 12 to page 32 is one long chase scene in the garden,” Ayers said. “It’s about Peter finding the gate, and he loses his coat and his shoes. In this version, there are several other characters in the garden, some birds and a mouse.

“So much happens.”

Perhaps it’s fortunate for the actors that the play is just 70 minutes including intermission. That’s the length the theater aims for to keep productions friendly for younger children — though Ayers said the production has all-ages appeal.

But the actors aren’t busy only because they’re literally running: Everyone plays at least two roles, one in Victorian England and the other in Peter’s world.

The two worlds mirror one another, with characters dressing mostly the same and sharing mannerisms and expressions.

“There’s no hiding that they’re the same actors,” Ayers said. “We’ve taken some physical movements or something the human character does and then we mirror that when they are playing the animal.”

Willems Van Dijk wears Peter’s blue jacket and shoes with a skirt when she plays Beatrix, then becomes Peter by adding rabbit ears and removing the skirt to reveal knickers and a fluffy tail.

In the play, the 13-year-old Beatrix writes the story inspired by her pet animals. While Potter was actually an adult when she wrote the story, much of the detail in the play was inspired by the author’s real life.

“Growing up in Victorian England, Beatrix lives this very stifled, monotonous, somewhat dull life,” Ayers said. “Her brother goes off to boarding school, and she’s left at home in the nursery with a governess.

“It was a hard time for her.”

But as in the play, Potter did grow up with animal companions.

“The governess was very permissive,” Ayers said. “They had lots of live animals in their nursery that Beatrix and her brother would draw and create stories around and out of that did come Peter Rabbit and her other stories.”

This story was originally published March 16, 2016 at 7:45 AM with the headline "“Peter Rabbit’ performance has Olympia Family Theater actors on the run."