Jobsite's current run of Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead has had audiences experiencing the bittersweet transformation of youthful icons by way of a wayward adolescent Peanuts gang. Not exactly in the same vein but close to it are 14 "wicked, bawdy, and absurd" short plays in the collection Shel's Shorts by legendary author and cartoonist Shel Silverstein. The vignettes in Shel's Shorts take audiences on a more adult and provocative trek than what they've strolled upon in Where the Sidewalk Ends. The stories involve sex, funerals, marriage and other grown-up situations, all from the mind of a man whose gentle morality tales we associate with bedtime stories and sweet-voiced Kindergarten teachers. Directed by Joe Stribling, the stories are said to have a sly wit and rebellious undertones, and according to the nice folks at The Studio@620, where the play's being staged, "Shel's Shorts holds a funhouse mirror up to nature." Well, then, we may just be Shel-shocked. Shel's Shorts, not suitable for children, 7:30 p.m. Tues., Aug. 24 – Thurs., Aug. 26. $20, $15 students and seniors over 65. The Studio@620 is at 620 First Ave. S, St. Petersburg.Visit The Studio@620 online at www.studio620.org or call 727-895-6620 to purchase tickets.
This article appears in Aug 12-18, 2010.