Mr Peewee and the Drumming Puppet’s performance is caveated by Mr Peewee that the show is ‘really silly but it’s also quite fun.’ It manages to undersell what is a simple show – but one that brings much joy to the families winding down for the evening.
Mr Peewee manages to avoid many of the potential pitfalls for a show like this; it doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not and it sticks to the formula that works. He describes the show as ‘half an hour of a puppet playing tunes’ – and that’s exactly what it is but it’s the subtle moves of the puppet that make it work; the flick of his wrist, the grab of his heart, the pointing of a finger.
But at thirty minutes is there enough there to make up a show? Yes and no. No, because it needs more than just the drumming puppet, even if some periods of slightly more technical drumming are impressive in the scenario they play out in, but yes because the constant crowd churn means that many don’t want the full show.
People drop in, take their fill and then move on – their spot taken by a new person who does the same, and so on. That said, there are some children who sit enthralled for the entire half hour – a testament to the show – as their parents take a well-earned break. And there is some dancing along too.
You feel for Mr Peewee sitting in his booth behind the puppet and drumkit in the searing heat of the open stage but I’m sure he’ll feel it was worth it for the reaction of the children enthralled by his drumming puppet.
Mr Peewee and the Drumming Puppet is at Glastonbury Festival 2023
