'The Wonderful Storybook' At Theatre Peckham

Claire was part of the cast for Theatre Peckham’s ‘The Wonderful Storybook’ which ran 7th to the 11th December, playing to local schoolchildren as a free Christmas offering from the theatre.

A magical re-imagining of L Frank Baum’s ‘The Wizard Of Oz’, the 50 minute production is a pre-cursor for the full length production of ‘The Wonderful’ which will run next year.

Everyone has got that piece of wonderful…

Think you know the story of The Wizard of Oz? Think again. Our story begins in Nanna Emi’s take-away shop in Peckham, where we meet our hero Efe, struggling with her sense of identity.

As the day begins like any other, a raging storm whisks her away to the mythical African land of Ozanda. Along with her closest companion, her dog TikTok, Efe embarks on a fantastical quest of self-discovery to find her way home. But not without the help of her new friends, who show her there really is something wonderful in all of us.

Our festive celebration will be directed by Artistic Director Suzann McLean and comes after months of closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw us taking our artistic offer for young people online. The cast includes Thalia Gambe who is a member of Theatre Peckham’s REP Company and starred in the sell-out START back in October, the cast also includes local actor David Webber (Barbershop Chronicles, National Theatre) and Claire-Marie Hall (Cosette, Les Misérables, West End).

Throughout the week, 500 school children from local schools will visit Theatre Peckham, with each performance attended by year group bubbles. Over the past months we have invested in making our theatre a Covid-safe space for all, including temperature checks, sanitisation stations and an electrostatic 72hr-protection spray.