-Moved to NYC at age 21 with no college degree.
-Worked his way into Theatre working for a casting office.
-Five years later left casting to begin writing.
-Wrote a few unsuccessful scripts but his latest "Dogs Sees God" was hit.
-Recently wrote "Easy A" for Paramount", which he boast to have written all but the final ten pages in five days
"Dog Sees God"
-First read through at the Barrow Street Theatre in May of 2004
- World Premier at SoHo Playhouse in the 2004 New York International Fringe Festival
-Another Reading in May of 2005, at the Westside Theatre
-Off-Broadway premiere at the Century Center for the Performing Arts, opening December 15, 2005
1. The play was loosely based off of the well-known cartoon "Peanuts". I was unaware of this until after I had finished reading the play and began research. After reading more into this it was very obvious and I was a little shocked at how I missed the connection. Did anyone catch this and if so did it make the play an easier read having some context of the characters backgrounds?
2. In an interview prior to the opening Off-Broadway Bert V. Royal says “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.” There are many themes in the play that many of us currently deal with or have dealt with before. What did the play say to you? What message did you take away from it?
3. Do you think that Matt is gay and has feelings for CB?
4. What was your reaction to how the play was written in short stories and the continuos jumping?
5. How would one stage this? With the constant jumping around, I feel it would need to be a somewhat subjective set, and done with lots of projections. What's your initial thoughts on the staging, set, and lighting for the show?
6. Knowing that the show is based off the characters from "Peanuts", how obvious would you want to make the costuming? the production in general? Would it be something that as a designer/director you want to highlight? or attempt to make the production its own and let the script portray the characters as such?
7. What was your reaction to the CB throwing himself on Beethoven? Do you think he is actually gay or really just attempting to try something new?
7. I didn't see that one coming. I think CB was trying to fill the hole that Snoopy left in his heart... not that he had a bestiality thing going for Snoopy, but CB wanted comfort because he just lost his best friend. Other than the moment a few lines before they kiss, where their hands linger together for a moment or two too long, I didn't think CB was gay. Their kissing and CB's conversation with Van's sister led me to change my mind, I definitely think CB is gay.
ReplyDelete3. Before I answer, I'd like to say that I really liked this play, in fact it may be one of my favorites. I understood that the characters in the play were Peanuts from the get go (not to knock anybody, but the beagle and little yellow bird with CB were fireworks to me) and I really liked how the little scenes or whatever were written, like in the comic strips. I liked the fact that this guy took something that we all know and made it into something else that was completley different from the original. I liked all the little hints at the past too, like the blanket and all and I found the play to be clever on a certain level, like Matt; he was pigpen who we all know was dirty but he grew up to be a kind of neat freak right? Wrong. Yeah, he uses hand sanitiser and he dresses fresh and his physical appearance is "cleaned up", but on the inside, mentally and emotionally, he's still a poor, sick, dirty little thing. Just listen to what he says if you don't believe me, everytime he opened his mouth I laughed my ass off. Anyway, I don't think that Matt was gay; I think he was just scared of loosing CB. All guys know that we don't have to be gay to have a bond with another one of our boys, and although most of us probablly won't admit it, we have several of these bonds and there's nothing wrong with that. It's the same for girls; opposites attract but so do alikes and besides, no one likes to loose a good friend, especially if yoy've bee through alot with that other person. I also think that Matt couldhave been more disgusted at the fact that Beethoven had "made" CB gay than he was about their friendship possibly falling through. It just gave him an excuse to beat on that fag that he hated again. I could be wrong, maybe he is or he's bi or something but I really don't think he is. I suspected it at first. I mean, he was like girls this and pussy that and I was like awww yeah, tag but when I saw how the other girls reacted to him, I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Unlike Pigpen, I don't judge.
ReplyDelete5. Someone in class recommended that the stage should look like the comic strip, and the costumes should be reminiscent of the clothes the characters wear in the comic strip but not exactly the same. Costumes are as living as the characters themselves. The characters will probably change their style somewhat over the course of their life. On the other hand, the set should remain the same as the comics because the characters are somewhat of a product of their environment, which has remained the same for the most part.
ReplyDelete1. I read the play after class so I already knew it was peanuts, which was extremely helpful because then I really understood it. I don't think I would have caught on as fast as everyone else, because I am not a huge peanuts fan.
ReplyDelete7. I definitely think CB is gay. He reminds me of the type of people who would try to cover it up but ultimately are still gay. His actions and conversations lead me to believe that he truly is.