Monday, November 7, 2016

SCRAP's Dog Sees God Review







Dog Sees God (Confessions Of A Teenage Blockhead)
SCRAP Productions

Dog Sees God is a play written by Bert V. Royal and is a parody of the beloved Peanut characters created by Charles Schulz. Because this is a parody, does not mean it is a comedy. Although there is some comic relief, the play addresses issues like sexual abuse, suicide, eating disorders, teen violence, sexual identity and much more.  
Dog Sees God is directed by Rashaad Bond, and is a SCRAP Production. SCRAP is a Student organisation that produces their own plays with student directors, Designers, Stage Management , and Actors. Bond is a senior at UNM and is making his directing debut with Dog Sees God.
To be completely honest, this is not the type of play I would normally see, and I can’t say that I really enjoyed it. Not because it was a drama, but rather because the reality of this play was heightened in a darker way than I'm normally comfortable with. That is not to say it is a bad play. It’s just not the kind of feel good play you see when you’ve got an hour or two to spear. At first glance I found that this play was filled with characters I could not possibly relate to. There bad tempered people with a limited vocabulary that is showered with profanity. That's not to say that these people don't exist in the real world, but the only people that I know that act like this are literally the worst people I know. But I realized that these characters aren't the post to be likeable, and the characters that I should care for have a much more relatable personality. Throughout the play, other characters that once alienated the audience changed to become more relatable, and pretty soon you start to feel for these characters. This set up for the extra emotional impact at the end.      
Dog Sees God features a homosexual relationship which help progresses the story and character development. This element could have easily hijacked the story and turned it into a statement piece about tolerance. I do not believe this is the story Bert V. Royal wanted to tell, and Bond did a great job as the director in finding the playwrights intended meaning and put it on the stage. In my opinion, I believe the theme of this play is not of tolerance or acceptance, but of support for those who need your help. Most of the characters in this play are bullies of some sort and in this play we see one of the characters make the leap from bully to friend, and stands up for his friends even when it means destroying his reputation.
One stand out performances that I feel must be recognized is that of Nick Pippin as CB. Pippin carries the play through from beginning to end with an fantastic emotional performance.    
The set design by Kevin Holman resembled comic strip panels and worked great with the plays quick change of location. Joseph Gurule costume design worked well with the set to create a unified world in which the play can exist.    
As I said before, This play is not my cup of tea, but I do believe I have grown after seeing it. In the end I believe that’s what theater is all about. If you would like to see Dog Sees God, You can see it November 11 - 13 at Rodey Theater        .