Now, before I say anything, I just want to say that my gripes are with Bert V. Royal and some of the writing of “Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead.”
Everyone on both cast and crew for this show did amazing (we’ll get into that later), and I overall enjoyed my viewing of the show because of said cast and crew.
I’m a huge fan of the Peanuts franchise and was excited about this grittier, darker take on the characters. However, 10 minutes in, I realized this just might not be the play for me.
In the best way I can describe it, “Dog Sees God” is as if someone saw the “Peanuts” movie and wanted to add cuss words – edginess for the sake of edginess: drugs, homophobia, alcohol, pet death, suicide, eating disorders, discussions of abortions and school shootings . . . it has it all.
One thing I also want to mention: homophobia was not mentioned in the content warnings for the show, despite it being a running theme throughout. If I had watched this blind, I would have had to walk out, full stop. That might be too “P.C Police” to mention, but that stuff does not sit right with me, and I’m sure it wouldn’t with others.
It’s vulgar and disgusting, with scenes that made me physically cringe just being in the same room. That being said, I enjoyed it.
While I detested the writing and content (Seriously, why all the slurs Bert? It gets redundant after the first few) the acting by the Troy theatre students really sold it for me.
They’re playing characters that don’t get redeemed, some that you might hate by the end of this show, and they did it well.
I, however, loved every single one. Each character had at least one moment that killed me. First one that comes to mind every time was C.B.’s Sister (played by Maggie Scarbrough) and her one-woman show.
Additionally, on the more serious side, Jamie Bishop (the actor for Beethoven) and Elijah Byrd (the actor for Matt) did exceptionally well, with both on opposite sides of some of the more hard-to-watch scenes, those roles are difficult on a mental level. Props to both of y’all.
I would mention every single actor in here, but it might get a bit too long-winded. But seriously: Y’all worked hard, and we can see that you did.
Again, the show’s writing just wasn’t for me, I get that. But I’m seriously pleased with the show!
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