For most of us, Charles Schulz’s beloved Peanuts characters—Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, etc.—bring back memories of warm, light-hearted tales of The Great Pumpkin and finding the true meaning of Christmas.
But Bert V. Royal’s Dog Sees God, now being produced by The Bent, presents them in a very different light. The characters, loosely based on our Peanuts friends, are now in high school, dealing with raging hormones, anxiety, drug use, body image and bullying.
The play opens with C.B. (Henry McLaughlin) alone onstage, writing to his old pen pal, with whom he has not communicated in a while. He shares the sad news that his dog has died after contracting rabies and killing a little yellow bird.
This tragedy prompts C.B. to contemplate what occurs after we die—a question he begins posing to all of his friends, including Beethoven (Miguel Olivas), an often-bullied piano-playing loner unsure of his sexuality.
C.B.’s circle also includes Matt (Chris Carranza), a sex-obsessed, angry young man who has become a germaphobe to overcompensate for his past slovenliness. (Do NOT call him Pigpen!)
Marcy and Tricia (based on Marcie and Peppermint Patty) provide much-needed comic relief as vacuous, shallow best friends who spend their time gossiping and one-upping each other. Here, they are portrayed by male actors in drag (Jason Ayestas and Terry Ray, respectively).
The Linus character, now named Van (Steffon Martindale), is a pot-smoking Buddhist, and C.B.’s sister (Joyanne Tracy), is a wicca-following goth girl dealing with weight issues and crushing on Beethoven. Rounding out the cast is Van’s sister (Cecilia Orosco), who’s been locked up in a psych ward after setting the red-headed girl’s hair on fire.
The baggage these characters are carrying, plus the inherent challenges of adolescence, make for great drama, and give the play a dark, ominous tone overall. Kudos to director Larry LaFond, who manages to achieve just the right balance humor and gloom. He has assembled a strong cast and elicits excellent performances from each actor.
The play revolves around C.B., and McLaughlin is more than up to the task. Vulnerable, melancholy and always searching, he draws us in to the character and never lets us go. Especially in his solo scenes, McLaughlin is riveting onstage. He makes us want to give C.B. a huge hug and tell him everything’s going to be OK.
Olivas breaks our hearts as the Schroeder-based character Beethoven. Slim, sensitive and artistic, it’s not surprising that he’s the target of bullying. Though he often just wants to be left alone with his music, he’s also quietly longing for love. Olivas makes all of that, including Beethoven’s conflicted feelings for C.B., quite palpable.
Carranza plays Matt with just the right mix of resentment and machismo. He’s dealing with loads of testosterone and a major chip on his shoulder about his dirty, disheveled past.
As the over-the-top gossip queens Marcy and Tricia, Ayestas and Ray are terrific. Though most productions of Dog Sees God cast females in these roles, the decision to use men in drag works well here. The two offer much-needed laughs in a dark story, and they nail the “mean girl” attitude the characters require.
Tracy is fabulous as C.B.’s sister. She’s wrestling with establishing a solid identity, and the fact that she’s the only member of the drama club seems to sum up both her loneliness and he love of the histrionic. Her monologue about metamorphosing into a platypus is perfection.
As Van’s pyromaniac sister, Orosco is superb. She’s funny and very likable. In her one big scene in the psych ward, she at times comes across as the sanest, most-well-balanced of the bunch.
The costumes (Sarah Elizabeth Woolsey) and wigs (Lynda Shaeps) work quite well here. Special mention goes to sound engineer Zoe Sanchez; the music and sound throughout the play are quite effective.
There are some very funny moments in Dog Sees God, but overall, the play is poignant—and pretty dark. This is not Neil Simon. It is a timely coming-of-age story involving anxiety, sex, drugs, friendship, bullying and death.
In an era full of hatred and bigotry, when people seem more polarized than ever, we could use a play that reminds us that underneath it all, we are all just human, looking for love and understanding. As C.B. says when writing to his pen pal, “Just listen—that’s all I want.”
The Bent’s production of Dog Sees God will be performed at 7 p.m., Thursday through Saturday; and 2 p.m., Sunday, through Sunday, Dec. 21, at the Palm Springs Cultural Center, 2300 E. Baristo Road, in Palm Springs. Tickets are $42, and the running time is just less than two hours, with no intermission. For tickets or more information, visit thebent.org.