Confession: Did not make the Charlie Brown, Patty, and Marcie connection until it was spelled out onstage in this dysfunctional family holiday tale at the charmingly petite Strand Theater. But those character names are the only real nod to the children’s cartoon in Kate Bishop’s A Peppermint Patty Christmas, directed by Da’Minique M. Williams. And that’s a good thing, because there are plenty of other factors to which the audience can relate. Drunk daddy? Yup. Single-mom sister with out-of-control teenager? Sure. Mom depressed and sister repressed? Got it. Just another holiday spent fighting and lying, but this time the truth comes home.

The Strand’s small space is the stage. Audience seats are a few feet in front of and behind the action and the set mirrors Christmas’ invasive nature: huge whimsical murals on the north and south walls depict snow globes 15 feet tall and filled with snowmen and bright colors. There’s a Christmas tree in the corner near a “kitchen,” a round dining room table, and a small sitting area with a bar. Ted (Alex Hacker), the father of the Bialecki family, answers a phone made out of candy canes and garland—every prop is either made out of seasonal flotsam or decorated with it, like a snowman mug or those cheap plastic serving bowls you can find at Rite Aid through December. It’s a nice touch from scenic designer David Cunningham.

Ted freaks out on the phone because he can’t get a good price on the rowhouse they are losing to foreclosure, but he just grumps and huffs and keeps it to himself. Mom Rita (Lucie Poirier) hangs ornaments on the tree, oldest daughter Ronnie (Caroline C. Kiebach) prepares food (tinsel), and teenage son Sam (Melissa Tillery with a dark Bieber haircut) plays video games—on a blank TV screen, another witty touch—with gusto.

Younger daughter Patty (Mattie Rogers) soon arrives with her “roommate” Marcie (Kamilah Sharufa) from New York. Patty promised to visit her parents, anticipating the stress of relating with relatives that are not so much intolerant but defensive and shy of what they don’t understand. Such is Marcie, who was raised Muslim and doesn’t believe in God, though she’s writing her dissertation on Christmas rituals. She wants to observe what a “normal” Catholic family does during the holidays, which mystifies the Bialeckis.

Frankly, Patty appears happy her family’s attention is deflected away from her—though there’s plenty of other distractions. Sam acts out, causing Ronnie to say what a pain in the ass he is too many times out loud. Rita obsesses about the weather. And Ted practically disappears—pretty regular family crap here. Marcie’s energetic speeches about the holiday’s increasing commercialism and how the story of Jesus’ birth is reflected in many other religions and cults doesn’t fall on deaf ears as much as it compounds the family’s confusion about just who this young woman is. Patty is proud of her girlfriend’s smarts but doesn’t help the misunderstandings of her silly sheltered family nor Marcie’s feelings about it.

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