DEERFIELD — For its fourth year, Arena Civic Theatre is running a free summer theater program to give local students the opportunity to participate in theater while school is out of session.

This year’s summer program will culminate in three performances of “Neverland: Before & After” starting Friday, Aug. 2. First, the younger group of students will perform a revised one-act “Peter Pan,” written in part by the high school group. The high schoolers will then perform Kimberly Belflower’s “Lost Girl,” following the story of Wendy’s return from Neverland.

“We try to provide an experience for kids and families that is not focused on the final product, but on the process,” said Alana Martineau, one of the directors of this year’s production and an Arena Civic Theatre board member.

For 11-year-old Chloe Gilman and 12-year-old Laller Haskins, the process is precisely what draws them to the program year after year.

“It’s been pretty fun, learning the lines. I’ve gotten pretty good with them,” said Laller, who is attending the program for his second summer and will play Captain Hook’s sidekick Mr. Smee. “We started rehearsing … later than we did last year … so we didn’t have as much time, it felt, but it’s been very fun.”

Chloe will play Peter Pan. She has been attending since Arena Civic Theatre began running the program four years ago.

“I like how it’s a community, so it’s just welcoming. And I like how everyone gets a part. And I like how serious they are about it,” Chloe said. “The play’s always good in the end, and there’s a good balance of working really hard and having fun.”

Martineau explained that Arena Civic Theatre’s Inclusivity Committee reviewed both plays. “We have chosen to write our own take on classic ‘Peter Pan’ to include iconic characters such as Captain Hook and Tinkerbell but eliminate parts of the story that are culturally insensitive,” Martineau wrote in an email.

Performances will be held at Deerfield Elementary School, 21 Pleasant St., on Friday, Aug. 2, and Saturday, Aug. 3, at 6 p.m. and Sunday, Aug. 4, at 1 p.m. Tickets are $15 for students, seniors and members of the military, and $18 for general admission.

“I’m very proud of everybody coming together, doing their job and getting it done so that we can have great shows next week,” said Aly Murphy, the assistant producer and co-director of the teen production. “I just hope everybody enjoys the show.”

McCavery Burgess, who plays older Peter in “Lost Girl,” was one of the teens involved in writing the script for the younger actors.

“It was a lot of fun because I … did it last year, and that experience helped carry over,” McCavery said, adding that many of the younger kids who participated last year came back this year. “So … we kind of knew a little bit about them … what different struggles some of them may have had as actors, so we could plan around that.”

Patrice Moriarty, who will play older Wendy in “Lost Girl,” has been participating in the summer program since before it was run by Arena Civic Theatre, first getting involved when she was in fifth grade. Now, she is going into her freshman year of college.

“I love theater. I’m planning on majoring in theater in college and so it’s nice to be able to continue it during the summer,” she said. “In high school, it can kind of be a lot. Especially piling it on top of classes and jobs and so on and so forth. So it’s just really nice to see people in the summer.”

Most of the students in the high school program attend Frontier Regional School. In fact, actor Oliver Cox transferred to the school after finding community in the summer theater program.

“I really like this program, ‘cause you come, you audition, you get a part no matter what. There’s no getting cut or anything,” he said. “I think that really gives a bunch of people an opportunity to act.”