No matter how old we get, the little kid in us never disappears. While they may get buried and overshadowed by our never ending life issues and concerns, part of us stays innocent and curious. Written, directed, and starring Zac Williams, Blockhead is a one-act play that sweetly commemorates childhood perspective, and the anxieties and over contemplation we love to thrust upon ourselves.
In this one-person show, Williams plays a character familiar to all audiences – the lovable Charlie Brown, at the age of five. Wide-eyed and precious in every way, Williams speaks to the audience with earnest concern about his grade one picture day tomorrow. Charlie is certain that this yearbook photo will define him, and that decades into the future, people will look at his photo and ponder what he has done with his life. Therefore, the pressure is on!
The anxiety Charlie has about picture day leads him down a rabbit hole of thoughts and worry, and he calls upon advice he’s received from such friends as Snoopy, Lucy, and Linus. Williams has cleverly infused talk of selfcare practices that are on trend these days, such as meditation, gratitude journal writing, and manifestation. Audiences familiar with these practices will particularly get a good chuckle from this.
Williams has also integrated an entertaining story about Charlie attending summer camp one year, where he invented a fake persona that led to him temporarily gaining popularity and alpha status. Behind all of the stories and concerns that Charlie discusses are the desires to be accepted, successful, and happy as one’s authentic self.
Williams is a pleasure to watch for the entire 30-minute play. He nails Charlie’s physicality and naïve and curious vibe really well, making him convincing and very funny. Blockhead is an enjoyable reminisce of how when we were kids, everything (including picture day at school) seemed like such a big deal. It’s also a realization that as adults, we still often do exactly the same thing…and perhaps we all need to take a time out now and then to calm down and be a little less serious about everything. Maybe we all need to say hello to the child inside us and see the world with their hope and wonder.
Blockhead, written, directed, and performed by Zac Williams, is part of the 2022 Vancouver Fringe Festival, and plays until September 18. Visit the Fringe Festival website for information.