No Refund Theatre continued its fall catalog with a presentation of an original play titled, “Peter Pan!c.” There are viewings for the musical available from Thursday, October 24, to Saturday, October 26, in Forum 111.

“Peter Pan!c” is an original comedic play written by the cast and directed by Colby Gleason that puts a twist on the classic tale of “Peter Pan”. Wendy, the main character, is in her 40s and managing a chaotic household with two young boys when she is startled by the return of her old friend Peter Pan. Pan convinces Wendy to return to Neverland to escape her torturous life, but tragedy strikes when Pan runs out of fairy dust, leaving Wendy trapped in Neverland.

Pan and Wendy must travel around Neverland to find more fairy dust and return Wendy to her family. The pair run into Captain Hook, his sidekick Smee, a devilish alligator, and a drunk Tinker Bell. While she’s no longer a young girl, Wendy must believe in the magic of Neverland to help Pan retrieve his two captured sidekicks and return to her children.

Gleason’s “Peter Pan!c” is an extension of the beloved movie Peter Pan by continuing Wendy’s story as she navigates life after Neverland and becomes reacquainted with the people and place she once loved.

“We wanted to write something that would be fun and make the audience laugh, but also give them something they’d already be familiar with,” Gleason said.

The play, a clear labor of love, was written and created in less than a month. While Gleason wanted to write a humorous play, he also noted the importance of making sure his actors had the freedom to improv their lines as it makes the entire play “less rigid and more fun for the audience to enjoy.”

Writing and directing, although new to Gleason, didn’t seem as daunting with his cast and crew by his side.

“Creating a play in less than a month can be scary but in our first table read it just sort of clicked and I was just in awe,” Gleason said.

Gleason picked these actors and actresses with an intentional purpose as he had seen the actors in previous plays and “enjoyed their ability to have fun with their work and have great comedic timing.”

Gleason’s permission to his actors to improv lines made the play move smoothly, even during technical issues as Quinn Dougherty, who plays Tinker Bell, was unafraid to take the moments of silence as opportunities to make the crowd laugh.

“We have a lot of moments where we just improv and allow a lot of that freedom to just allow the ideas to come to light because the audience has fun with it and if it works, I say do it,” Gleason said.

“I feel like when you see the play you can tell them they’re having fun and when they’re having fun, I feel like the entire audience collapses together, and I just love that environment. It just always puts a smile on my face,” Gleason said.

Although the play was performed within a month of its inception, Gleason feels confident in his cast’s ability to put on a great performance.

“We have scripts for this show, but I’m confident when we move into a live audience our actors will have the scripts down, but it also allows for some creativity and fun if they want to improv some lines,” Gleason said.

“Above all, I just want the audience to be able to enjoy the show and leave with a smiling face because we have a really great cast who just brings a positive energy,” Gleason added.