Magic, romance, love and loss — that’s what theater’s UIL show “Peter and the Starcatcher” is wonderfully creative at showing.

“Peter and the Starcatcher” is a prequel to “Peter Pan,” which follows Molly Aster (senior Lucy Ward) and an unnamed boy who becomes Peter Pan (junior Zachary Carvajal) as they try to regain a chest full of “starstuff” — magical stardust — for Molly’s father. The chest of starstuff is also being sought by antagonist Captain Black Stache (senior Shane Duggan) and his pirate crew.

The set is made entirely out of found objects, which serve as both ships and the island they land on later in the show. The set gives the show a creative, pieced-together feel, which matches the show perfectly — it was charmingly strange and strangely charming. The actors did an incredible job adjusting how they interacted with each environment, even though it was all the same set.

When it came to acting, Duggan and senior Diego Sierra, who plays Smee, stole the show. The pair both managed to play menacing pirates while also leaning into the fantastical, borderline-comedic feel. Another significant actor was senior David Park, who plays Fighting Prawn. Though he doesn’t show up until almost halfway through the show, he was fully committed to his character every moment on stage.

The show wouldn’t have been half as good without the ensemble. If an actor was not playing their main part in a certain scene, or didn’t have a main role at all, they were in the ensemble. This led to the show having a large, talented ensemble that was essential to telling the story through movement and lines.

My only complaint with the show was that there was so much happening in such a short amount of time. With UIL only being 40 minutes long, it became hard to follow at certain points. The actors managed to deal with this problem well throughout the show; however, there were still a few moments where I was lost, especially in the beginning.

Overall, “Peter and the Starcatcher” was creative, fun and heartbreaking. All of the actors — main characters and ensemble -– did an incredible job. The technical elements were on point. I definitely enjoyed watching the show.