Dog Sees God Character Analysis
“Dog Sees God,” an unofficial parody of “Peanuts” that played March 5 at the Struble Theater, tells the story of C.B. (presumably “Charlie Brown”), a teenager surrounded by doubt and conflict. Most of the cast did a respectable job at communicating both the humor and confusion of adolescence, but one actress stuck out to me most. Katie Chang, though appearing in only one scene as “Van’s Sister,” completely stole the show and blew everybody out of the water. Her performance managed to be natural and dynamic at the same time, which I couldn’t say the same for other actors in the production.
Chang played a teen girl who is institutionalized for setting a classmate’s hair on fire, yet she portrayed her so well I didn’t think the character was …show more content…
To me, one of her goals was to convince C.B. that she wasn’t crazy – even though she was technically locked away and people assumed she was a pyromaniac. And because he was talking to her in an asylum and she was wearing handcuffs, Chang had to work extra hard to prove her character’s sanity and achieve her goals as an actor. She succeeded in displaying her character’s complexity, by presenting the audience and C.B. both her unhinged and normal side. One way she did that was by saying crazy things in an obviously sardonic tone, to illustrate that she’s not actually insane, and to put C.B. at ease and remind him she’s not that different than how he knew her. She also spoke to him in a calm way and showed sympathy when he said his dog died, which comforted him. There were times when her voice was so quiet I had to lean forward in my seat to hear, which made me feel more engaged in her character; then there were moments where her voice got louder and more dramatic. Further, at times she spoke quickly and breathlessly, and at other times she took her time with enunciating each and every word. Her tone could change as well – from monotone in one moment, like when she said “I lit that bitch’s hair on fire” without any emotion, to expressive and agonized, when she claimed, “I am sick and unremorseful.” Her voice and her facial
Chang played a teen girl who is institutionalized for setting a classmate’s hair on fire, yet she portrayed her so well I didn’t think the character was …show more content…
To me, one of her goals was to convince C.B. that she wasn’t crazy – even though she was technically locked away and people assumed she was a pyromaniac. And because he was talking to her in an asylum and she was wearing handcuffs, Chang had to work extra hard to prove her character’s sanity and achieve her goals as an actor. She succeeded in displaying her character’s complexity, by presenting the audience and C.B. both her unhinged and normal side. One way she did that was by saying crazy things in an obviously sardonic tone, to illustrate that she’s not actually insane, and to put C.B. at ease and remind him she’s not that different than how he knew her. She also spoke to him in a calm way and showed sympathy when he said his dog died, which comforted him. There were times when her voice was so quiet I had to lean forward in my seat to hear, which made me feel more engaged in her character; then there were moments where her voice got louder and more dramatic. Further, at times she spoke quickly and breathlessly, and at other times she took her time with enunciating each and every word. Her tone could change as well – from monotone in one moment, like when she said “I lit that bitch’s hair on fire” without any emotion, to expressive and agonized, when she claimed, “I am sick and unremorseful.” Her voice and her facial