Ursinus Magazine

Sophia Bush '26 (left) as Peter Pan; Annie Zulick '25 (right) as Captain Darling.

Neverland Reimagined

What if Peter Pan isn’t the hero and Captain Hook isn’t the villain? That’s the premise behind Captain Darling, a dark, feminist adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s classic story of Peter Pan written by Ursinus College graduate Kate Isabel Foley ’23.  It made its world premiere on the Lenfest Theater stage in April and was the first-ever student-authored play directed by Associate Professor and Chair of Theater Meghan Brodie ’00.

Foley, a novelist and playwright from Lebanon, Pa., who is currently pursuing a master’s degree in playwriting, wrote Captain Darling as a distinguished honors project in theater and English while she was an Ursinus student.

“I hope this story serves as a reminder to us all that, too often, heroes and villains are not the people we expect them to be, and that we should never stop asking questions,” Foley said.

Hear from the Ursinus alum as she talks about her journey from student to playwright.