Dog Sees God: Confessions of A Teen Age Blockhead
Dog Sees God: Confessions of A Teen Age Blockhead
By Bart V. Royal
Directed by Tara Corless
Starring P.J. Gadja II, T.J. Parman, Kyle James
Breakthrough Theatre Company, Winter Park, FL</strong>
Ever feel like you have no control over what you see, say, or feel? Maybe you’re a cartoon character stuck in a three panel hell, and you’ve outgrown your cute and precious stage. That makes it time to belly up to life and deal with sex and drugs and that most contrived prison called high school. CB (Gadja) is searching for answers after his pet beagle croaks. He never found acceptance in his childhood, but high school allows him the freedom to join the pack and beat the crap out of those cursed with difference and uncoolness. His sister (Megan Goldman) waffles between modern dance and paganism, his buddy Van (Adam DelMedico) discovered dope and skating, and that former cloud of dust Matt (James) cleaned up his act, became a Misophobe and spews vitriol at the probably gay Beethoven (Parman). When CB comes out a party, there are bound to be repercussions, and they fall hardest on Beethoven. Once he’s gone, the whole gang acts sorry, even though they couldn’t come up with a kind word when he was alive. The exception is CB who has finally cut though his shyness and says what on his mind. Now he’s the weak, different one, but at least he has experience. He realizes a group can’t survive without someone to dislike.
With minimal set and lighting, this coming of age comedy abandoned stage spectacular yet pulls all the anger and vitriol that lurks in this story. CB seems a genial jock until he kisses the pathetic Beethoven and becomes the poster boy for gay acceptance. The battle between Beethoven and Matt in the music room seethes – I was waiting for Beethoven to physically attack Matt, but the opposite happened in one of the most disturbing pieces of stage craft ever presented in Winter Park. Comedy came from Marcy (Megan Borkes) and Tricia (Lindsay Pennington), the class alcoholics and party girls. While they’ll do it with boys, that’s not absolutely essential for their immediate happiness. Another creepy teen act comes from Van’s Sister (Bunny Fitzgerald). She, too, is jealous of CB and has a pyro streak that allows her to she set fire to the hair of CB’s dream girl, and now resides in the cartoon loony bin.
The story begins with CB’s losing his best friend to rabies. The dog asks for help in the only inarticulate way a dog can, and that muffled cry for help echoes through the story. Everybody here needs help, but most don’t realize it and fewer respond. And those who help are excluded from the group. The biblical injunction of “Do unto other as you would have them do unto you” is never ignored more heartily than in high school.
For more information, please visit http://www.breakthroughtheatre.com
