Rachel Blackwell builds community in UAF's 'Lost Girl'

Rachel Blackwell builds community in UAF's 'Lost Girl'

An upcoming play at the University of Alaska Fairbanks will explore what happened to Wendy Darling after her adventures with Peter Pan.

Rachel Blackwell, a UAF adjunct faculty member and alumna, will direct "Lost Girl" in the UAF Department of Theatre and Film's Nov. 13-22 production.

The play follows Wendy as she navigates life after Neverland, where she must confront the memories, relationships and choices of her past before she can embrace what comes next. The script mirrors Blackwell's own formative years as a student at UAF, where she experienced that same search for identity firsthand.

"I remember that as a college student at 17, 18 years old, I didn't know who I wanted to be in the world or what I was doing, really," Blackwell said.

After graduating from UAF, Blackwell pursued graduate studies at the New School for Drama in New York City. But after two years, she realized the big city wasn't where she wanted to build her artistic life, prompting a return to the Interior to start her own productions.

"Fairbanks seemed like the right place to do that," Blackwell said.

That decision sparked a two-decade career dedicated to empowering others across Fairbanks, one person at a time. As a K-12 educator and school principal for over 15 years, she approached the classroom and school leadership much like a theater director. At the same time, her local production work - ranging from community theater to founding her own performance company - became a safe testing ground for first-time performers to build self-confidence and discover hidden passions.

Whether working with elementary students, local adults or college actors, her ultimate goal remains helping people discover their own self-worth.

"When I step on stage to perform, I feel like I walk away with that experience of like, 'Oh, I love who I am,' right? And I want other people to feel that too," Blackwell said. "I want them to walk away from the experience feeling like they gained something or learned something about themselves and feel better about who they are."

"Lost Girl," written by American playwright Kimberly Belflower, provides a space for UAF students and the community to explore those themes. As Wendy navigates her transition into adulthood, the production relies on deep trust among the cast. That creates connections extending well beyond the theater, Blackwell noted.

"When you're working on a show, you do make really powerful connections as a group," Blackwell said. "That is something sort of sacred that lives in its own time. When I see those people later in the future, that's a connection that doesn't go away."

Blackwell hopes that same sense of connection reaches the audience: "I want audiences to see something where they're like, 'Oh, I also can see myself in that.'"

That shared experience sits at the heart of "Lost Girl." After all, no one stays lost for long when they have a community behind them.

"Lost Girl" runs Nov. 13-22, 2026, at the UAF Lee H. Salisbury Theatre, with evening shows at 7:30 p.m. (Nov. 13-14, 20-21) and 2 p.m. matinees on Nov. 15 and 22. The Nov. 15 matinee is pay-what-you-can ($5 minimum).

General admission is $25 for adults; $20 for seniors, military and UAF-affiliated guests; and $10 for youth. UAF students attend free with a Polar Express card. Tickets are available through the production's website. Additional information is available online.

ADDITIONAL CONTACT: Megan Frankenberger, [email protected]

065-27