Now Playing
-or-
A FEW MINUTES WITH: Bert V. Royal, author of Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead
By Donald V. Calamia
Have you ever wondered what might have happened to Charlie Brown and his friends as they grew into teenagers? Playwright Bert V. Royal has, and his totally unauthorized parody, Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead, has thrilled audiences ever since its debut in 2004. Detroit-area theatergoers will finally have an opportunity to experience the show when Magenta Giraffe Theatre Company presents a script newly revised by Royal beginning March 5. Royal talked recently with EncoreMichigan.com about the show and his favorite Peanuts character.
Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead is a dark comedy that follows the adventures of some very familiar characters as they move through adolescence. The piece, of course, is an unauthorized parody of the Peanuts characters. Are you - or were you - a fan of the popular, long-running comic strip?
I was more a fan of the specials than the actual strip, but not to any "super fanatical" extent. I directed a production of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown in high school, so I really did a lot of research that summer.
Is there one character in the strip you liked best or identified with more than any of the others?
I always liked Patty. Not Peppermint Patty, but the cute girl with the short haircut and the bow in her hair. She wasn't quite as mean as Lucy, but she had a bit of an edge.
So what possessed you to write the show?
Not sure how to answer this. I just got the idea one day and sat down and wrote a few scenes that eventually manifested into a play.
I don't think there was a lightning strike moment, but I don't think that writers often have those. I'm not a particularly funny person in life, but I think I am when I'm writing, so I really just write to make myself laugh. Luckily, other people do, as well.
Recently, I've been reading collections of the strip's early years, and creator Charles M. Schulz was a master at using the Peanuts gang to reflect on some rather grown-up topics - especially in the strips first few decades. But kids - and the world - have changed tremendously since then. So Dog Sees God tackles death, drugs, homophobia, sexuality and a handful of other current-day hot topics. How easy was it to project these characters into their high school years?
It actually wasn't very difficult. The Peanuts characters were pretty angst-ridden. So are teenagers. It wasn't too difficult to make that leap.
Were there certain characters who were easier to figure out than others?
Lucy was the more challenging character to figure out. I knew that if she was still in the gang, she'd be the ringleader and I didn't want her to dwarf the other characters. So, originally I had written her as a foreign exchange student in Paris. I thought it would be funny if she FINALLY got to go - which is an allusion to Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don't Come Back!). But during the first reading, the director - Anthony Barrile - thought it would be much funnier if she was on death row for murder.
The mental hospital was a compromise.
Was there anything you felt was taboo - that you just couldn't include in the show?
Nah. I think I pretty much covered everything you're not supposed to laugh about.
Did you hear from the Charles Schulz estate, the family's lawyers or United Feature Syndicate at any time after the show premiered at the 2004 New York International Fringe Festival? And if so, how thrilled were they with your work? (laughs)
I have received no correspondence from anyone.
While some of those pesky critics haven't been kind to the show, it seems to be quite popular with regional and small professional theaters around the country - as well as community theaters. And it seems to draw those hard-to-reach 20-and-30-somethings who aren't generally visible in theater audiences. Why is that?
I think that the allure of the play is that it isn't exactly heady or pretentious. It's not trying to be anything other than what it is. It's a story, and with any story you either like it or you don't. Some people truly love this play and some people truly hate this play.
But for every bad review there are two good ones. I've won Audience Awards from the same publications that panned it. Art's subjective.
If you are easily offended, don't see the play. It's not for people seeking You're A Good Man Charlie Brown Part Two, because that's not what it is. It's not a sequel. It's a parody. It's definitely for the Avenue Q crowd.
The script that Magenta Giraffe Theatre Company is producing is a revised version, which I don't believe has been seen yet anywhere in Michigan - or possibly the region. Is this the first revision you've made since its off-Broadway debut in December 2005?
I've done several over the years based on continuing work with productions subsequent of the New York ones.
What prompted the revision?
I think it's actually just a much better script than it was. Dog Sees God was the first thing I ever wrote, so I fell into a few traps that I'm sure freshman writers fall into. Over the years, I've done tightening to it.
I'm not sure I'll ever be "done" with the play.
What are you working on these days? Are you still an associate or assistant Broadway casting director? Or have you moved on to bigger and better projects?
I don't think I'm necessarily working on "bigger and better" things, because I really loved working in casting and worked on some pretty big projects. But now I'm working full-time as a writer.
My first movie, Easy A, opens in theaters on September 17. I wrote several episodes of a new show called Gigantic premiering on Teen Nick in April and I'm writing a pilot for MTV based on the Argentine series Patito Feo.
SHOW DETAILS:
Magenta Giraffe Theatre Company will present Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead at 1515 Broadway, located at 1515 Broadway St., Detroit. Thursday through Sunday March 5-28. Tickets: $15-$18. For information: 313-408-7269 or www.magentagiraffe.org.
Click here to comment on this story
Show times
