Rapid Theatre Review: Hand To God
Hand To God
by Robert Askins
Directed by Moritz Von Stuelpnagel
Steven Boyer, Geneva Carr, Marc Kudisch, Michael Oberholtzer, Sarah Stiles
1 Hr, 55 min (1 Intermission)
The Booth Theatre
Open Run
http://handtogodbroadway.com
One hell of a new American play has made its way to Broadway. Hand To God, a new dark comedy by Robert Askins, is quite simply the best play of the year and one of the best of the decade. Full disclosure, I knew this back when I saw it at MCC last season.
Set in a church in Cypress, Texas, Hand To God concerns Jason (a terrific performance by Steven Boyer), and his mother Margery (played by an endearingly insane Geneva Carr) who runs the local puppet ministry at the church. Jason's father has recently eaten himself to death and this has caused damage to both of them. Jason’s puppet is Tyrone, a grayish fellow with big eyes and a little tuft of hair....oh and did I mention a big mouth?! When Tyrone takes on a mind, and a mouth of his own, chaos ensues.
The play touches on a laundry list of topics: grief, religion, responsibility, sexuality, guilt, death, love, support, misconduct, pain and sorrow. These multiple themes of Mr. Askin's play are handled superbly through discussions between his fleshed out characters, however cartoonish the world they inhabit might start to get. Apart from Jason, there are two other teenage inhabitants of Margery’s group: the dimwitted, above-it-all Timmy (Michael Oberholtzer makes his Broadway debut), who to disastrous and destructive effects, makes his romantic feelings towards Margery known, and Jessica, (played by the always good Sarah Stiles) who's in it for the puppetry as she states at one point, “I’m really more into Balinese shadow puppetry, but I’ll take what I can get”. Overseeing all of this is Pastor Greg (Marc Kudisch), who has feelings for Margery as well and shows them in his own passive-aggressive ways.
Jason’s feelings for Jessica initially bring out Tyrone's might, and from there it is only a matter of time before everyone's feelings and secrets are out in the open and the debate is had: “Is this Jason lashing out, or has Tyrone become possessed by something more sinister”.
The cast gives phenomenal performances all around, this should be expected as they all have transferred with the piece after its extended, critically-acclaimed run at MCC last year. As a matter of fact, this is the fourth time Carr and Boyer have done this show, so they have lived with these characters for years. However the standout performance has to be Steven Boyer’s, who gives not one, but two completely different-yet-great performances as Jason and Tyrone. Your eyes will be locked on Tyrone, as Boyer's puppeteering skills astound and vocal distinctions unleash a fury of four letter words. A scene in Jason’s bedroom displays the ferociousness of Tyrone to frightening effects, and a climactic scene in act two shows just why Mr. Boyer should be considered this year's lead contender for a Best Actor in a play Tony.
On the technical side of things, director Moritz Von Stuelpnagel (making his broadway directing debut), leads the cast to a home run with good staging that never gets boring. He has created one of the most hilarious scenes I’ve ever witnessed at the end of Act One, even after seeing it off Broadway last year, it still made me crack up when revisiting it on Broadway. Beowulf Boritt has created a great folding set on turntables depicting the inside and outside of the church (and there is an actual functioning swing set at one point). Lastly, with Hand To God, Robert Askins has crafted a hilarious, bloody, darkly disturbing-yet-truthful comedy that deserves recognition come awards season. This should most definitely solidify his place as a new American playwright to watch for years to come.
(5/5) This show is a blast that absolutely deserves to have a nice long life on Broadway, it's rare to hear a theater full of people scream in sheer horror for all the right reasons, this is visceral theater at its best.
