Peter Pan and J.M. Barrie: The Boys Who Wouldn't Grow Up

Peter Pan first appeared in a J.M. Barrie novel written for adults, 'The Little White Bird', in 1902, but it was not until the stage play 'Peter Pan or the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up' that he became a world conquering hero, a symbol of the refusal to take on the mantle of the social norms, to grow up. This program explores the coming into being and the reception of the play itself as well as later critical analysis. It particularly examines his close and tragic relationship with the Llewelyn Davies family, whose five sons who were compounded into the figure of the leader of the Lost Boys.