At a small attic theater secluded in a pretty church, actor/playwright Doc Dougherty shares the story of a life (his) it seems incredible to have survived. Watching the film Godzilla as a child, Doc “didn’t realize it was a metaphor for the culpability of a nation.” He came away frightened that “monsters exist.” They do.
One night among many when his parents violently fought, police were called. Doc’s Irish grandmother swept him up and took him home. The first six years of the boy’s life were idyllically spent surrounded by adoring aunts and uncles. On “payday,” they’d all buy him presents. We hear about bedtime stories, a sweet, early crush, his caregiver’s increasing vagueness.
Then his parents showed up…with a new infant…and took him. Life once again became filled with yelling, drunkenness, and daily battering. Every time Doc’s dad beat up his mother and exited, she’d beg him to come back. “I didn’t know who I hated more, my mother or father.” The Catholic family became a baby factory.
Nuns at a religious, fundamentalist school offered no escape from physical abuse. Doc resisted as much as possible. Brief therapy was aborted when his mother was told her son didn’t trust her. Once a week Aunt Alice exposed him to the arts/ entertainment. Until she didn’t. In high school, the teenager ran with a bad group. “No one wanted to learn, just to go crazy. Some of us survived, most of us didn’t.”
At 15, he was whipped with an extension cord and found Led Zeplin. Intermittent music references ground us in familiarity. At 17, he acquired a first girlfriend, started shooting heroin, and landed in the Queens House of Detention. Three years probation followed. During the day, Doc would work at Shoprite, at night, he’d use. Even as a Europe-based army medic, the young man managed to keep a drug supply flowing.
Doc was in and out of rehab programs to little effect. Heroin, pills, and alcohol ruled. Health consequences piled up. When the protagonist realized he’d begun emulating his father’s behavior, a last effort stuck. Meetings filled his days. Doc became an actor and playwright and faced the possibility of forgiving his dad.
If this was Keith Richards’ story, replete with extravagance and fame, it would have sold out. As it is, an ordinary man’s wrestling with addiction and private demons is infinitely more relatable. Intimacy of the venue emphasizes that the tale is something of a personal exorcism.
The issue of forgiveness would land better with more specific history between the boy, his mother and father, an area one might infer, he talked about less with Cascio, yet one that looms.
Anna Theresa Cascio, who put this together with Dougherty during the pandemic, keeps narrative flowing. Events and feelings hold attention. The protagonist/actor is truthful and articulate. The piece is illuminating.
Direction is animated without feeling fake. Pacing excellent. Delivery would’ve been more affecting if Doc actually looked into our faces, however.
Photos courtesy of the production
Godzilla’s Prince by Anna Theresa Cascio and Doc Dougherty
Directed by Michael Schiralli
Through March 8, 2025
Guild Hall
1 East 29th Street
