ABOUT
The PEANUTS gang is all grown up, and ready to raise some hell.
When CB's dog dies from rabies, CB begins to question the existence of an afterlife. 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. 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 "repressed homosexual anger" collide and careen toward an ending that's both haunting and hopeful.
“Good grief! The Peanuts kids have finally come out of their shells” - Time Out New York
“A welcome antidote to the notion that the Peanuts gang provided merely a slice of American cuteness.” - New York Times
“DOG SEES GOD doesn’t feel like the same old high-school-warfare schlock. The characters – teenage and reckless – are both genuinely sympathetic and unquestioningly 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
Written by American screenwriter and playwright, Bert V. Royal is author of the smart comedy Easy A. He moved to New York City from Green Cove Springs, Florida with no college degree and very little professional experience. Seven years later, Royal’s hit play DOG SEES GOD opens off-Broadway and pocketed a six-figure advance to write an original screenplay for Paramount, thanks to the play’s quick triumph. The play became a hit at New York’s 2004 Fringe Festival, which gave way to an all-star off-Broadway production, playing 98 performances. “I hate teenagers,” Royal says. “I can’t stand them. They scare me. I just think it’s the period of time where puberty makes you crazy. They’re such nasty human beings.” And that is exactly why Royal decided to write about them. “I thought the idea of taking them and putting them in real trauma could be really interesting. What would you do in the absence of God or your creator?” Royal asks. “Ultimately, the play is about your creator and the life that you’ve led in your creator’s eyes. It becomes very much about looking outside your world.”