By Galen Simmons

When it comes to staging an adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, there are a few things any production team must get right.

Neverland and it denizens need to be mysterious and fantastical, the crocodile must be terrifying, the fight choreography needs to be on point, and the actors playing the children need to be able to fly seamlessly and without the audience noticing any of the behind-the-scenes magic.

The Stratford Festival and director Thomas Morgan Jones’ production of Wendy and Peter Pan hits all those points and then some, combining a cast of seasoned actors with set designs and props beyond my wildest expectations to tell a story of what it means to grieve the loss of a loved one and move on with your life, the ending of which brought literal tears to my eyes.

Was I crying in a children’s play? Yes, I was and I’m not ashamed to admit it.

That emotion I felt was well earned first and foremost by the cast. Cynthia Jimenez-Hicks’ Wendy and Jake Runeckles’ Peter Pan were the perfect counterpoints to one another – Wendy taught Peter about responsibility and taking care of those around him and Peter showed Wendy how to let go of grief and find happiness again.

Both actors embraced their characters’ driving motivations and the audience certainly felt Wendy’s heartbreak at the loss of her brother and her desperation to find him in Neverland and bring him home through Jimenez-Hicks’ performance. Runeckles, meanwhile, brought that impish, playful, light-on-his-feet joy the audience expects to her performance as Peter, and then brought it home with those all-important moments of self-reflection that make this adaptation unique.

The main baddies – Hook (Laura Condlln) and Smee (Sara-Jeanne Hosie) – were also high points of this production, though I truly think the whole cast deserves praise and I would happily give it if not for my word limit.

Condlln and Hosie have both played their fair share of villains, but with their performances in Wendy and Peter Pan they managed to bring a level of humanity and understanding to their characters, be it Hook’s attempts to relate to Wendy’s frustration with Peter never taking responsibility for those around him or Smee’s potentially requited love and compassion for his captain and his (their?) dreams of one day settling down in a cozy cottage with the hook-handed villain.

The set-, prop-, costume- and sound-design departments truly knocked it out of the park with this production.

From Tink’s (Nestor Lozano Jr.) luminescent fairy dress and the myriad lost-boy and pirate costumes to the Jolly Roger pirate ship, the jungle canopy and that dread-inducing, steam-punk crocodile piloted by actor Marcus Nance and backed by suspenseful, terrifying music that let the audience know the beast was on its way, the production team really made it feel like the magic of Neverland was real on stage at the Avon Theatre.

As this season’s Schulich Children’s Play, Wendy and Peter Pan is entirely worth seeing before it closes Oct. 27.