DOG SEES GOD: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead

There was a small thread about this a little while back but I didn't see any reason to bump it so I started my own.

Dog Sees God is one of my favorite plays to read. Sadly I've never seen it, but I really love the script. Speaking as someone who's currently in high school, the dialogue and situations are pretty realistic (at least from the language and partying perspective).

Has any one here seen or been in any productions? I'd love to hear about them!

Updated On: 11/27/12 at 06:06 PM

I'm a big fan--I saw a great production in Montreal (one critic claimed it was the Canadian premier, but no clue if it was). I'd like to see more plays from Bert V Royal--he did the film Easy A which was an above average teen comedy, I thought, though not brilliant, and now seems to be pretty much devoted to several film and TV projects.

We had a blast doing it and got to know Bert pretty well, in fact i still do (hes still on my Facebook, lovely guy). He even did some press interviews to help us promote the UK premiere and it's transfer. I got to direct the show and play Beethoven which was a challenge.

Also i would say Easy A is much better than above average, critics loved the film some comparing it to John Hughe's classic films. The film also earned Emma a Golden Globe nomination.

Bert did have a TV show in production for CW but was sadly not picked up (they picked up a load of rubbish instead)

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I saw a production at the Boxcar Theatre in San Francisco. It was so good, I saw it twice. I went in having already read the play. I liked it when I read the script, but I fell in love when I saw it come to life on stage. This play is an dead-on reflection of growing up.

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I saw the Off-Broadway premiere at the late, great Century Center and thought it was a really good production of a solidly okay play. At the time it went up, 90% of the cast were known to most almost exclusively from film and TV (America Ferrera, Eliza Dushku, Ian Somerholder, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Logan Marshall Green etc); some of them have gone on to work pretty consistently in theatre. At the time, I was impressed by how well they all handled themselves on stage. The play was an entertaining afternoon but not memorable.

If I recall correctly, there was turmoil backstage and most of the cast ended up walking off the production, which caused it to close earlier than planned. Can anyone with a better memory confirm this?

ETA: Did a search which showed that the show closed after Dushku, Ferrera, and Somerholder quit.

Link

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Updated On: 11/28/12 at 10:19 AM

I ADORE this show. I cried just reading it on paper and while I hope to see it someday, I don't known how I'll sit through it.

"If, as you say, CJ, this is an accurate depiction of today's high school students, then we're in even worse shape than I thought!"

Oh we are, we ARE. You wouldn't BELIEVE how terrible things are nowadays. Think of the worst possible everything. Now times it times infinity. That doesn't even scratch the surface of how awful things are nowadays.

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^

That is sobering to learn, and very, very depressing.

In any case, I wish you much success with the play.

Dreadful unfunny one-joke play, I refuse to believe it took more than an hour to toss off. It's ongoing popularity is really mystifying.

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I'd read the script a while ago but saw my first production this weekend. It's interesting but doesn't... quite... work. The foul mouthed teens suggest a South Park vibe but what they say isn't particularly funny. The romance is sweet but only lasts about two scenes. The late swing into violence was too over-the-top to take seriously.

Some of the actors gave the final scenes a glib, Heathers-y tone. The lead actor however spent the final 10-15 minutes of the play sobbing. One of the things I've loved about Charlie Brown was his Job-like stoicism. Terrible things happened constantly but he kept soldiering along. The play wants to be tragicomic but doesn't flesh out the characters enough for the ending to land. I'm still thinking about the play but I'm not sure what it needs to help it gel. Interested in reading the promised sequel if it survives the workshop process.

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