Bert V. Royal's "Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead" was first produced in 2004 as part of the New York Fringe Festival, where apparently it was very well received. Then it moved to off-Broadway, where it tanked. Seeing Havok Theatre Company's expensive-looking production here in Los Angeles, my first response is: yeah, I can see that.
It's a clever concept: the "Peanuts" kids spun forward to be angry, confused adolescents, with the Schultz characters' names shifted to initials or nicknames to (mostly) avoid copyright issues. And while there are some lovely moments in the show, ultimately it isn't a play, so much as it is a long, self-aware piece of competent sketch comedy...you know, with "meaningful" parts to make it a Piece of Theatre.
Havok Theatre's production has a lot going for it, not the least of which is an excellent (and gorgeous!) cast, featuring a number of TV/Film up-n'-comers and some really superior "unknowns". Nick DeGruccio's direction is smart and lively, and all the technical elements are rock-solid. All of which is terrific and certainly gets the audiences in. But the thing is, once you get past these elements...you need something to hold you there, that drives your interest forward, but the writing ultimately just isn't there. There's not much plot, rather a lot of character-revealing conversation. All of which is well-written and entertaining enough, but with not much at stake and no real spine to the story it's tough to care. Further, some of the young-adult versions of the original characters simply don't track from their cartoon origins (sorry: Peppermint Patty as a party girl slut? Nope.). And there's another of my pet peeves in evidence, seen in a number of first-time playwright's works: when one character comes out of the closet (and good for him)...we find out that nearly *everyone* in the show is secretly gay! Seriously...? Moments like these when I can see the playwright's personal issues--instead of the play--just annoy me as an audience member. Pulls me right out of the experience. And there's a moment at the end of the play when we find out who "CB"'s pen pal is, which I think is sweet but also left me feeling that it was a (forgive the expression) "royal" cop-out as to why the play's characters aren't *exactly* the "Peanuts" characters.
It's a fun night, all in all, and there's a lot worth liking. But much like the play's title--a cute palindrome that really has little to do with the story--it sets you up for greatness and smarts, but then doesn't satisfy.
Bottom line: B.
Til Next Time!
--HDSQ, Jr.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment