Good grief.
Not only are the South County Players performing You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, they're doing three versions of it: a cast of children ages 5-9, another 10-13, and a third cast of teens and adults.
The production continues this weekend and next at Peace Dale Elementary School.
"The play is really an adult play about childhood," says Judith Ross McNabb, the company's director. "The characters are children, but we most often see them played by teenagers and adults."
Give the kids a crack at it, McNabb decided, and teenagers, too, as well as adults. Seeing a situation from multiple perspectives is something she says she's always enjoyed, although never employed on a particular play, until now.
"For theater people, this is a real banquet," McNabb says. "You can see this play from all these different points of view."
Each version of the play features a 7-person cast, two acts and a two-hour overall production. The scripts are the same, too.
Differences in the play, McNabb says, will be a byproduct of the ages of the people performing. There may be variances in pacing, timing and interpretations of characters.
It's sort of a theatrical, sociological study. "That's what Linus would say," McNabb says.
The play is a musical indulgence in Charles Schulz's cartoon characters: Charlie Brown, Lucy, Patty, Schroeder, Snoopy, etc.
"It isn't often that members of a family can do something together on an equal basis," McNabb says. "This is appropriate for all age groups without making compromises."
You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown will be performed this Friday and Saturday, and next, at 7 p.m. in Peace Dale Elementary School, 109 Kersey Road, Peace Dale. The performances this Sunday and next are at 2 p.m. For advance tickets, which are $10, call 783-6110. Tickets at the door are $14 for adults and $12 for children.
