‘Peanuts’ gang hits GCSU stage’

‘Dog Sees God’ adds some spice to the famous comic crew

The harsh yellow light shines down on his face, saturating the hue of his yellow shirt. He is standing feet away from a black wooden cross–stepping forward on the stage, he begins to speak.

“Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead” is directed by senior theatre major Nic Marrone for his senior capstone. “Dog Sees God” captures the popular “Peanuts” characters as high schoolers. No longer confined to their strips, the characters are dealing with issues that plague teenagers during tumultuous years.

“The play really did mirror my life in a weird way. It’s one of the few plays where I’m like, ‘I know exactly what that means or I’ve said those exact words to someone in the same situation’” Marrone said of why he chose the play to direct, “It creepily mirrored my life.”

Kendyl Wade | gcsunade.com

Junior theater and history major Jordan Hale (in plaid) as C.B. and senior English literature major Chris Venable as Van portray the famous ‘Peanuts’ characters of Charlie Brown and Linus.

Theatre Chair Karen Berman says the play is outside the norm of what the Theatre Department usually produces.

“ ‘Dog Sees God’ is a very different type of play for our Theatre Department,” Berman said “It is funny and shocking at the same time and deals with issues that impact our students.”

The play opens with C.B., based on Charlie Brown, facing the death of his beloved dog–which sparks the chain of events that shape the whole play. Junior theatre major Jordan Hale plays the character C.B.

“C.B. is questioning everything in his life,” Hale said, “The main question at the beginning of the show is what happens after death,”

The casting of “Dog Sees God” was a vital portion of shaping the production.

“What made me pick Jordan Hale is that, Charlie Brown is so average–but Jordan added something special to average,” Marrone said “ (there is) something special about him even as average,”

Alex Meurisse, sophomore mass communication major, plays the character of Matt, who is based on Pigpen.

“He’s a womanizer. He’s an overall jerk, really,” Meurisse said about his character.

Portraying someone like Matt pushed Meurisse outside his confines as an actor.

“Playing Matt is one of the hardest characters I’ve ever had to play because he’s so unlike me,” Meurisse said, “so it really got me to push my own boundaries and see what I’m capable of,”

Pushing boundaries is what Marrone learned to do as a director while directing “Dog Sees God.”

“I like to make people feel awkward. When they feel awkward that’s usually when their best acting comes out,” Marrone said.

Stage manager, Theresa Sagan has witnessed Marrone’s method of awkwardness.

“At one point (during production) I feel like everyone has felt awkward,” Sagan said

“his awkward is good.”

Berman has also been alongside Marrone during his process of directing.

“I have watched him solve the many difficult problems a director faces daily with any show,” Berman said. “He has grown enormously as an artist and leader”

“Dog Sees God” holds captive all those teenage feelings, bottles them up, and lets them loose on stage. Such emotion is hard to render but the play does so –airing teenage self-doubt, love, and bitterness for all to see.

“His heart and soul is in this and you can see that on stage. Everyone has worked so hard to make him happy,” Sagan said of director Marrone.

“Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead” runs Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, in Russell Auditorium at 8 p.m. Marrone says his end goal isn’t tears when the audience leave their seats.

“I don’t want them to leave sobbing and crying,” Marrone said. “I hope they come out with a weird sense of hope in humanity.”

Posted by AubrieSofala on Oct 1 2010. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.