Photo Flash: EPIC Players present Inaugural Production of DOG SEES GOD

EPIC Players inaugural production of Dog Sees God - Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead opens on Thursday at The Kraine Theatre. The comedy, written by Bert V. Royal, runs until August 6 and is directed by company member David Bonderoff.

EPIC Players is a newly formed resident theatre company that seeks to use the performing arts as a vehicle to empower artists with developmental disabilities and pioneer increased inclusion within the mainstream arts scene. Artistic Director Aubrie Therrien discusses what drew her to choosing this production for their inaugural production, "We chose Dog Sees God for our first play to mirror the innocence of "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown" and also give our actors living with developmental disabilities a chance to explore themes of sexuality, gender and loss-issues they often struggle with--just like everyone else--but are never really given the opportunity to express. Too often these individuals are infantilized based on their differences; we wanted to change that."

Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead is a dark reimagining of the classic Peanut's gang during their formative teenage years. The "unauthorized parody" imagines the characters as degenerated teenagers dealing with such issues as teen violence, sexual relations and identity, drug use, and suicide.

The cast features Travis Burbee (Cupids Revenge/Bad Quarto Productions), Ben Dworken (The Tempest/Identity Theater Company), Samantha Elisofon (Starred in Keep the Change which premiered at the TriBeCa Film Festival where it won Best Narrative Film, Best New Director, and Samantha was nominated for Best Actress), Bree Klauser (The Moyles Musical/The Hudson Guild Theatre), Isabel Kruse (Wilde Life/Adelaide Fringe, Australia), Christian Patane (Epic Players Member), Gideon Pianko (Wizard of Oz/JCC Manhattan), and Jessica Saul (How I Killed Pistol Rogers/Short Film).

The creative team includes costume design by Patt Ness, set and lighting design by Alexander Michael, sound design by Nathan Gregory, stage management by Shannon Lyver, produced by EPIC Players and Aubrie Therrien, and production manager Talia Eapen.

Tickets are $25.00 for general admission, $20.00 for students/senior/military and are available at www.epicplayersnyc.org - Performances take place at The Kraine Theatre, 85 East 4th Street (between 2nd & 3rd Avenues/Bowery), New York, NY 10003. F to 2nd Avenue, 6 to Bleecker, B/D/M to Broadway Lafayette.

Photo by Charlene Warner.