A garden trowel becomes a sword, an attic is transformed into a pirate ship and a pair of ladders becomes a killer crocodile. In “Peter and the Starcatcher,” University Theatre’s first large production of the academic year, childlike wonder imbues the stage and technical direction.

The play follows an orphan boy as he goes on an adventure with a starcatcher-in-training, facing pirates and other enemies along the way and answering the question of how a boy became the classic Peter Pan.

Peter, played by Lola Byers-Ogle, a fourth-year studying English literature, is not yet the Disney Peter Pan we all know. He’s a 13-year-old boy who is angry, lonely and desperate for a place to call home. Byers-Ogle’s character development from an orphan who just wants to be an ordinary boy into the mischievous, fun-loving Peter feels organic and impactful.

For Byers-Ogle, the show was also a creative outlet.

“For me as a college student who often feels like I have the world on my shoulders and like, ‘Oh my god, how am I gonna get a job?,’ ‘How am I going to graduate?,’ Peter Pan and the show had been about escape for me and freedom,” Byers-Ogle said. “I can come here and, like I said in the show, I can just be a boy for a while.”

For Mia Self, the assistant director of acting and directing at University Theatre and director of the production, the play is about more than just Peter Pan.

“It’s about growing up and how stinking hard it is and how so much of that growing up process is about exploring how we feel love,” Self said. “How do we sort of transcend and transform those experiences into better versions of who we are and who we have the potential to be?”

A highlight of “Peter and the Starcatcher” is the technical direction. How do you transform a single set into two ships, the ocean, a mountain, a jungle and more? You make it an attic.

“Jayme Mellema, who is our amazing scenic designer, he and I were talking about what kind of grounds the show,” Self said. “We were thinking about the wonderful mystery and weirdness of the attic… And so we were using the attic as a space for all of this to happen.”

The set manages to be both compact and versatile, with a single area serving as multiple locations in the play.

While the technical design provided a great foundation for the play, it was the student performances that elevated it. The production features a 19-person cast, with more students participating as part of the production crew.

Jackson Griffin, a fourth-year studying history, played the Black Stache, the pirate who becomes Captain Hook. Griffin committed to playing the Black Stache as over-the-top as possible, and his effort paid off — his character was one of the most fun to watch on stage.

Griffin’s performance was well balanced by Bean Hopper’s calm and collected Smee. Hopper, a third-year studying sociology, provided a grounding contrast to Griffin’s delightfully exaggerated performance.

“Peter and the Starcatcher” feels like it has something for everyone. While the story can feel somewhat constrained by its need to keep in accordance with other Peter Pan works, its performances and technical elements make University Theatre’s “Peter and the Starcatcher” an incredibly well-produced play.

“It’s a play to come to if you want to have fun,” Self said. “It’s going to have a few little tender moments, but it really is just a big romp, from beginning to end.”

After watching the play, it’s easy to see what she means.

Performances will run at Thompson Hall’s Titmus Theatre through Oct. 29. Tickets can be purchased online, with student tickets starting at $10. 

University Theatre will continue their producing series with “Jekyll & Hyde” in February.