Studpuppy

(a one-act comedy about sexual, romantic, & spiritual identity – and a guy in a dog suit)

A tight-knit group of college friends struggle with sexual identity, spiritual yearning, and romantic confusion – and all is somehow made right by Skippy the Wonder Dog, a young man in a dog suit with problems of his own.

Harris likes Ralph who likes Isobel who likes Linc who likes Skippy, who he doesn’t know is Spencer under that dog suit.  Harris is struggling to be true to his fabulous self in a butch gay boy’s world.  Ralph is trying to get out from under his brother Linc’s shadow.  Isobel is trying to free herself from her irrational obsession with Linc.  Linc is just trying to hold together the pieces of his broken heart in the wake of his first big breakup.  Diana is struggling to come out to Isobel, which is complicated by the fact that Diana has bonded with Isobel over their common religion, but also likes Isobel as more than a friend.  And Spencer would like to be more than just the guy in the dog suit at the mall for Linc, but can’t reveal himself to him while on duty – a job he needs to support himself since his parents kicked him out.  Window shopping has just become a contact sport.

Cast of Characters

SPENCER

a young gay man, late teens/early twenties, college student forced to work odd jobs as, among other things, a life-sized cartoon character in a dog suit

HARRIS

a young man, flamboyantly gay, late teens/early twenties college student, friend of Spencer

LINC

a young gay man, radiant, a little sad, late teens/early twenties, college student

RALPH

a young man, awkward, late teens/early twenties, college student, Linc’s straight fraternal twin brother

ISOBEL

a young woman, intense, religious, late teens/early twenties, college student, old friend of Ralph and Linc

DIANA

a young woman, offbeat-looking, late teens/early twenties, a selectively closeted lesbian college student, new friend of Isobel

TIME

The Present (written Fall 2001)

PLACE

Various locations in a shopping mall located in a small college town

LOCATIONS

Pools of light with minimal set pieces (a bench, rolling racks of shirts, etc.) define the playing areas – clothing stores, a shoe store, a men’s restroom, and common walkway areas throughout the mall. Realism is not the object.

The play is to be performed without blackouts between scenes so set pieces should be simple and portable, on wheels whenever possible, to assist the flow out of one scene directly into another.

(Poster for 2001 production by Allegheny College, poster design by Gretchen Watson, photography by Martin Scott Marchitto; l-r, Gretchen Watson (Isobel), Chris Johnson (Linc), Jeffrey Simpson (Spencer), Fabrizio Polo (Harris), Mark Klaman (Ralph), and Allison Haley (Diana))