Charlie Brown gets angsty

If the CoHo Theater’s newest production of Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead is any indication of the future of finding quality acting in Portland’s smaller theaters, then the future looks bright indeed. The actors, most of whom are fresh out of high school, give such nuanced and entertaining performances of the classic Peanuts characters going through adolescence and early adulthood that it is difficult to single out the good from the great.

The piece revolves around CB (guess who he’s supposed to be) growing up and dealing with the typical experiences of a great teen melodrama: contemplating mortality, sexual tensions and experiments, awkward moments and heartfelt friendships, all through the lens of writing to an unknown pen pal. Suffice it to say, a lot happens in the lives of these teenagers, but it never feels like an episode of Melrose Place—that is to say, trite. Noah Goldenberg does well as CB, channeling his innocence and good nature with every character that comes his way.

The use of Peanuts characters to tell an age-old story is a risky idea. Firstly, there is the possibility that not everyone in the audience will understand the references and distinct character quirks that make them so wonderful in the strip. Secondly, it presumes that these characters retain those traits well into their senior year. Plus, wholesome as they were before, decency takes a back seat for many of the characters.

The taking of creative license doesn’t become a problem though. It makes for light-hearted fare, even when the subject matter inevitably becomes heavy. It is the lovable personalities that make them such a joy to watch, life-sized and full of sass.

The director, Brian Allard, has been a busy man. He is the artistic director and founder of new theater group the Original Practice Shakespeare Festival, which produces a fun, slightly improvised take on the Bard’s classics and is currently in the middle of a run of A Midsommer Nights Dreame. Allard lucked out on finding such talent to squeeze into this production between other endeavors. The juggling schedules and exhaustion (if he has it) doesn’t show. Allard provides an almost seamless production.

If there is one instance that falls from its top-notch form, it is no fault of Allard’s, but instead falls squarely on the shoulders of writer Bert V. Royal. Just when CB makes a final closing statement to his pen pal, making the scene ripe for ending, the play drags on for another 10-15 minutes, with the characters speaking in tandem about the difficulty of growing up. It becomes a little repetitive at that point, but forgivable, as the overall quality throughout the play of quick-witted dialogue is splendid in its accuracy to the way teenagers talk today.

Dog Sees God, while innovative in its concept, provides nothing new in terms of story. It is, however, chock full of wonderful performances and funny moments. After 50 years, the Peanuts characters, grown up and full of angst, surprisingly still have the ability to delight.