Looking for a little entertainment on campus? “Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead” is Madison College’s spring production, with an original and interesting premise. The classic Peanuts gang is all grown up, attending high school. But in this unauthorized version, the kids deal with such personal conflict as sexuality, drug abuse, self-image, suicidal thoughts and the human desire to be accepted and loved.
The play addresses raw issues that young people can relate to. Though there is a lot of humor, and the Peanuts characters are used as a backdrop, the play contains very adult content and is for mature audiences only.
The characters will not disappoint those imagining an edgy twist on the comic strip gang. CB (Charlie Brown) and a certain other character, who I’ll leave you to guess, start a ridiculed romance. Tricia (Peppermint Patty) and Marcie are a best-friend party-girl duo. Others characters, like Matt (Pigpen), who’s internalized his dirtiness and is now a germophobic chauvinist, have been written to show aspects of their original selves.
The actors have great chemistry, and have dedicated themselves to their characters. They’ve brought the characters to life by rehearsing, and digging deep to form unique personalities. They even joke that they receive pop character development exercises during rehearsals (“Quick—would your character be able to form a stable romantic relationship in adulthood?”). They say their goal is to make their stage managers cry, which the managers then conceded they already achieved during the final scene in rehearsals, which is an emotional doozy. Faculty producer, Miranda Hawk, is confident in her actors and stresses the student talent that has risen in the past few years.
The actors and production crew are teeming with excitement for the show, and are clearly proud of its quality. They love the play they’re tackling, and think it will hit home with students at Madison College. Nick Grischow, playing Beethoven, says the story is full of ups and down, then blindsides a person during the last scene. Randa Viets, playing CB’s sister, likewise agrees that students will be impacted by the show. She says that an actor shouldn’t leave the audience thinking of the cast and its great acting, but reminiscing on the story and thinking about their own lives. Dog Sees God will reflect important conflict in students’ own lives, and I for one can’t wait to see it. Tickets are now available at mitbytheater.com, and show dates include March 7, 8, 14 and 15.