This isn’t exactly culture, but after plays about dysfunctional relationships, broken Britain, grief & sectarian conflict and an opera set in Auschwitz, it was a welcome tonic to end the week!
It’s a 22 year-old reworking of a 44 year-old Broadway show by Clark Gesner based on Charles M Schultz ‘Peanuts’ comic strip, given a delightful small-scale production by Anthony Drewe at the little Tabard Theatre in Chiswick. There’s no story as such – just cartoon strips turned into sketches with songs – but it’s the characters which make it hang together. The songs aren’t particularly distinguished, but its funny in a panto sort of way, appealing to adults and children, but each getting something different. For us adults, it’s wry, tongue-in-cheek and quirky.
It’s the performances that pull it off – six lovely characterisations. It’s great to see Hairspray’s Leanne Jones again here as Lucy, with Adam Ellis terrific as her brother Linus, with comfort blanket and speech defect. Nathanial Morrison has a wonderfully expressive face, which means you rarely stop smiling at his Schroeder and Hayley Gallivan gives us a cheeky gregarious Sally. Of course, it all revolves around Charlie Brown and Snoopy and Lewis Barnshaw & Mark Anderson respectively are spot on with their sense of resignation at whatever they encounter.
Great for kids and adults who’ve overdosed on angst and bleakness!
Gareth's Culture and Travel Blog 