When CB’s dog dies from rabies, CB begins to question the existence of an afterlife. His best friend is too burnt out to provide any coherent speculation; his sister has gone goth; his ex-girlfriend has recently been institutionalized; and his other friends are too inebriated to give him any sort of solace. But a chance meeting with an artistic kid, the target of this group’s bullying, offers CB a peace of mind and sets in motion a friendship that will push teen angst to the very limits. Drug use, suicide, eating disorders, teen violence, rebellion and sexual identity collide and careen toward an ending that’s both haunting and hopeful.

An “unauthorized parody,” the play imagines characters from the popular comic strip Peanuts as degenerate teenagers. Drug use, child sexual abuse, suicide, eating disorders, teen violence, rebellion, sexual relations and identity are among the issues covered in this parody of the works of Charles M. Schulz. The show cleverly disguises the identity of each character, so that the issues of the play draw more focus than attempting to guess “who’s who”. However, the use of these famous characters is what gives the show its emotional punch: even these beloved child characters must some day grow up and deal with a harsh reality as they find their place in the world.

Written by Bert V. Royal
Directed by David Bonderoff
Produced by EPIC Players

The cast features Travis Burbee, Ben Dworken, Samantha Elisofon, Bree Klauser, Isabel Kruse, Christian Patane, Gideon Pianko, and Jessica Saul.

The wonder years of teendom are possibly the most potent of our lives, as we feel deeper, think different, see ourselves and others in new lights. Bert V. Royal’s Dog Sees God, the Peanuts play, is a wonderful coming of age high school drama with a number of very smartly written moments and an excellent repurposing of the great American characters we all know and love. The young company Inner Circle Creative has remounted this work in a heartfelt, charming production. The play opens with CB, or our old friend Charlie Brown (none of the original Peanuts characters’ names are used, I assume for licensing reasons), a mature high schooler, writing to his old pen pal for the first time in years about putting down his dog, who contracted rabies and killed a little yellow bird that was always by his side. This morbid yet strangely delightful fate of Snoopy seems to follow all of the Peanuts universe, as the trials and tribulations of discovering yourself and patching an identity fall upon the wonderful characters of Charles Shultz’s imagination. CB’s Sister is a passionate young woman and a budding Karen Finley. Marcie and Peppermint Patty, now Marcy and Tricia, are gossipy queen bees; Li …Read more