You're a big 'mo, Charlie Brown.

Dog Sees God * Century Center for the Performing Arts, New York City * Open-ended run

"What if Charlie Brown was gay and fell in love with sensitive, piano-playing Schroeder?" That's the central question asked by the off-Broadway play Dog Sees God, a black-humor takeoff on the beloved Charles Schulz comic "Peanuts." The characters are now 10 years older, and puberty has morphed them into personae quite different from their former selves, starting with their names. Pigpen, now known as Matt, is a homophobic clean-freak who carries around a hand dispenser of Purell in his pocket. Blanket-lover Linus, now Van, is a Buddhist pothead. Most shocking of all is the play's inciting event: Snoopy has died. While the gay love story between C.B. and Beethoven (Charlie Brown and Schroeder) is rushed and lacks credibility, writer Bert Royal does use it to address the very real questions straight peers have when high school classmates come out to them. The play's overall message is centered on the phrase "Dog sees God in his master," although its sentimentality and characters make it hard to take that too seriously. With enough references to the original strip to keep things moving along swiftly, Dog Sees God is a fun romp for anyone who doesn't mind seeing their beloved "Peanuts" characters tarnished by alcohol, sex, and violence.