By Chris Nafekh, Staff Writer

Published in print Feb. 11, 2015

Adam Olson looked lonely on stage. 

As a teenage Charlie Brown against the world, his monotonous expressions made the lovable childhood character seem truly depressed.

But wasn’t Charlie Brown always depressed?

In the comic strips and on television, someone was always giving him a reason to say “good grief!” Charlie Brown only received rocks on Halloween, constantly walked around with a rain cloud above his head and never landed a single football kick before Lucy so cunningly pulled the ball from under his feet.

But if you thought that The Peanuts couldn’t be more depressing than it was, you were wrong.

“Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead” is a play originally written by Bert V. Royal. This past weekend, the UNCG theater department and Alpha Psi Omega presented a four-day-long production of the play.

Giving Charlie Brown a true feeling of grief, this play takes The Peanuts and throws them in a high-school setting. The Peanuts, now teenagers, struggle with drugs, sexuality, identity and death.

Mackenzie Eury, a student and active member in the UNC-Greensboro Theater Department, directed the play.

For her first directed production, Eury chose a very dynamic and introspective play. Full of laughs, serious subjects and well-developed characters, the play received a standing ovation on Saturday night.

“It was a lot of fun and I know that sounds stereotypical,” Eury said. “I’d like to call it my own, but I had a lot of help from the designers and my assistant directors Jim Wren, Josh Pervis and David Sullivan.”

The play begins with Snoopy’s funeral, a grim concept by itself. 

What is worse, none of Charlie Brown’s friends came to Snoopy’s funeral.

At the beginning of the play, religion is a strong theme.  Charlie Brown wanders around and asks his friends what will happen to snoopy, receiving a wide array of theological answers. Throughout the play, we come to realize what has happened to The Peanuts.

Somewhere in between the comic strip and this play, the kids lost control. Pig-Pen especially has some major anger issues, and turns into a raging homophobe. 

On top of that, almost every character has an internal battle with personal sexuality, self-confidence and identity. 

For her first direction, Eury chose a play with a little of everything.

“I was studying up on the playwright,” she said, referring to Bert V. Royal, “and he said he was just giving the peanuts kids a reason to be upset. On stage, we see lovable, fictional characters deal with real life issues.”

The UNCG student production of “Dog Sees God” was only here for a weekend, but seeing your favorite cartoon characters get high and talk about God lasts a lifetime.

Despite only a brief stumble in Saturday night’s performance, the cast performed well, as did all the silent actors behind the stage.

Eury, feeling accomplished with her first production, is excited to continue directing.

“It was a wonderful time and a great experience,” Eury said.” I truly look forward to directing again.”