REVIEW: YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN at Upstairs at the Gatehouse 14 Dec 2023 - 14 Jan 2024

‘Childhood nostalgia and feelgood songs for a cold winter’s night’ ★★★★

It’s strange the things we worry about as children. What seemed so important feels amusing yet poignant when we look back as adults. Maybe that’s why Charles M Schultz’s iconic cartoon PEANUTS was such a hit with adults and children alike. Children resonate with the day-to-day struggles of Charlie Brown and his friends, and adults can look back with the warmth of nostalgia on a life that was so much simpler.

That nostalgia is brought to life in YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN. First performed in the 1960s and written by Clark Gesner, this musical brings together some of Peanuts’ best loved characters: Charlie Brown, his uber confident sister Sally, cheeky dog Snoopy, blanket toting Linus. Linus’ bossy sister Lucy and piano prodigy Shroeder.

When adults play children, there is a fine line between caricature and truth in performance. Eleanor Fransch as Lucy walked this line with the most assurance. There were some wonderful musical numbers, excellently performed, with a show stopping song and dance routine “Suppertime” from Oliver Sidney’s Snoopy. For me converting Snoopy into a white tail-suited man was the least successful character transition from cartoon to theatre. This was not to do with Sidney’s performance, it was more about how the character was reimagined for the stage.

The original Peanuts cartoons were little vignettes of the children’s lives, which worked brilliantly as short cartoons. It worked less well in a two-act theatre show. There was little to tie together the various songs and dances at the heart of each vignette. That said, this high-octane production was fun and engaging. This was a great ensemble performance, tightly and imaginatively directed by Amanda Noar. The talented quintet of musicians was expertly directed by Harry Style.

The real star of the show was the beautifully imagined sets, props and costumes which brought together iconic elements I remembered from watching the cartoons as a child: from Snoopy’s doghouse to Lucy’s Psychiatry Booth and the school bus. Kudos to Ruby Boswell-Green for her clever set and Holly Louise Chapman for her faithful costume designs.

If you want something light, frothy and fun this winter, YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN is the show for you.

Photography: Simon Jackson

You’re a good man, Charlie Brown at Upstairs at the Gatehouse, 14 December 2023 – 14 January 2024, http://www.upstairsatthegatehouse.com/

Performers: Jordan Broatch, Millie Robins, Oliver Sidney, Troy Yip, Jacob Cornish, Eleanor Fransch

Director and Choreographer: Amanda Noar

Musical Director: Harry Style

Assistant Director: Isaac Bernier-Doyle

Set Designer: Ruby Boswell-Green

Costume Designer: Holly Louise Chapman

Producer: Annlouise Butt

Reviewer: Srabani Sen

Srabani is a theatre actress and playwright. As an actress she has performed at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse (The Globe), the Arcola, Southwark Playhouse, The Pleasance and numerous fringe theatres, in a range of roles from Shakespeare to plays by new and emerging writers. She has written several short and full length plays. Her play Tawaif was longlisted for the ETPEP Finborough award, and her play Vijaya was shortlisted for the Sultan Padamsee Playwrights Award in Mumbai.