About the Play:

Dog Sees God has become a favourite of acting teachers for Female Monologues, Female/Female Scenes, Female/Male Scenes, and Male/Male Scenes.

Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead is a full-length comedy by Bert V. Royal. How does life change as we transition out of childhood? This dark comedy re-imagines the iconic Peanuts characters in their high school days. Dog Sees God is a biting, yet extremely poignant, "unauthorized" look at what happens when Charlie Brown and his friends grow up in a world where adolescents are over-eager to be adults.

Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead is an "unauthorized" parody of what happened when the beloved Charles Schultz "Peanuts" characters (like Charlie Brown and Lucy) went to high school. Following the tragic death of his dog, the teenaged Charlie (here called "CB" to avoid copyright issues) is disappointed that none of his friends turned up for the backyard burial. He finds himself reflecting on what comes after death, which throws him into a journey of self discovery. 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. With no insight from his friends, CB struggles to find closure. 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.

Dog Sees God premiered in 2004 at the SoHo Playhouse, enjoyed an extended run during the New York International Fringe Festival, and transferred to off-Broadway in 2005 at the Century Center for the Performing Arts. Since then it went on to become a cult hit. The play has become a favourite scene study vehicle in acting classes and workshops and is regularly performed in college theatre productions as a showcase of student talent.

Cast: 4 female, 4 male

What people say:

"Good grief! The Peanuts kids have finally come out of their shells." — Time Out NY

"A welcome antidote to the notion that the Peanuts gang provides merely a slice of American cuteness." — New York Times

"…easily identifiable with the Peanuts crowd yet with a distinctly 'Royal' touch… The way Royal builds on the foundation of Charles Schulz's iconic comic strip actually results in a parody that's also a stand-alone play apt to resonate even with anyone belonging to that small population segment unfamiliar with Peanuts." — CurtainUp

"Inventive and raunchy … hysterically funny." — New York Post

"Bert V. Royal is the playwright of the Off-Broadway show Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead and is he ready to confess all." — Broadway.com

"Dog Sees God doesn't feel like the same old high-school-warfare schlock. The characters – teenage and reckless – are both genuinely sympathetic and unquestionably cruel. Growing more hysterical – and more harrowing – as it flows to an inevitable, uncomfortable end, this taut comedy manages to make tired clichés about stoners and popular homecoming airheads funny and endearing." — New York Magazine

About the Playwright:

Bert V. Royal is an American screenwriter, playwright and former casting director. He is best known as the writer of the play Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead.