Last weekend, UNH’s very own Dramatic Society, Mask & Dagger took to the Strafford Room in the Memorial Union Building to show us a thing or two about the acceptance of others in their spring show, Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead. This play, written by Bert V. Royal, dives into some real issues that people face, and does so in a high school setting. The setting makes it very relatable for an audience on a college campus. There was partying, school lunches, and gossip that brought the audience back to their days in high school and reminded us all just how hard it really can be to grow up when you don’t exactly know who you are yet.
The characters were Charlie Brown characters, grown up. This took something seemingly innocent and made you think twice about the characters. The performers did a great job at channeling their inner Charlie Brown and brought a show to life for the audience. The cast included:
Aaron Bencks
Kayliegh Kane
Mack Willingham
Cody Barbin
Ryan Lemay
Ally Foy
Katharine Paiva
Haylea Erickson
Issues involving acceptance within the LGBTQ+ community, Depression, Suicide, amongst others were discussed through out the entire play. The ultimate trial in this play was the acceptance of others who may live differently than you. Through out the whole play two characters in particular struggle with being who they are, as a couple, with a lot of resistance from the rest of the school. While many of the characters themselves judges the way two of these characters choose to live their life – they too are struggling with how to cope with their own lives day to day, too. Issues like struggling to love themselves without the love of someone else, jealousy of others, anger issues, and an overall general misunderstanding of who they really are.
Overall, this play was monumental at UNH. At a time when progressive movements are happening left and right – Mask & Dagger could not have put on a better show. They brought issues to light that need to be discussed and they did so with talent and grace. If I could have made this play mandatory for every student – I would of. Mask & Dagger even made it their own responsibility to host a talk back after the show to discuss the issues brought to light in their production. Hats off to you Mask & Dagger – thank you for this show, it was much needed. Can’t wait to see what this student organization puts on next!
* All photos courtsey of Kayliegh Kane