Hand To God

Hand to God is playing at the Booth Theatre located 222 West 45th Street. The show opened on April 7, 2015. It runs one hour and fifty minutes with on intermission. The show is open ended.

The play has been nominated for five 2015 Tony Awards. Best Play, Steve Boyer Lead Actor, Geneva Carr Lead Actress, Sarah Stilles Feature Actress and Mortiz von Stuelpnagl Best Direction.

Beowulf Boritt is the scenic designer. He won a Tony Award in 2014 for Act 1 and was nominated for a Tony Award in 2011 for The Scottsboro Boys.

March Kusisch was nominated for three Tony Awards for 9-5 (2009), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (20050 and Thoroughly Modern Millie (2002).

The time is newish, the place is somewhere in Texas where the country meets the city.

Jason (Steve Boyer) is in the church basement with his mother Margery (Geneva Carr). Timothy (Michael Oberholtzer) and Jessica (Sarah Stilles) are also there. Margery is teaching them how to make puppets. Timothy wants nothing to do with it and is sassy with Margery. Jessica is almost finished with hers. Jason is finished with his puppet named Tyrone. He shows the group the religious song his puppet can sing.

Margery is a widower of six months. She is turned off by the rude remarks Timothy is making, all sexual in meaning.

When everyone leaves Pastor Gregg (Marc Kudisch) comes into the room to console her. She rebuffs him saying she is not ready. Pastor insists at next Sunday’s service the puppets have to perform. He has to justify giving her the money for making the puppets.

Jason is still grieving over his father’s death. His mother is no help; she wants him to console her.

Tyrone becomes the aggressive person that Jason cannot be. It comes to the point where Tyrone takes over and is the only way Jason communicates.

What happens, good or bad, this is a show not to miss. Tyrone will not take no for an answer.

Country music is played before and during intermission to set the mood.

The cast does an outstanding job. Steve Boyer deserves his Tony nomination. He goes from one character to another without skipping a beat. What a great job.

OH! I finally got to see some porn. That’s right between two puppets. WOW!

Review by Rozanna Radakovich.

Photos by Annazor.

To read a candid interview with the cast, scroll down to the left for recent photos. Click on recent photos for this and other shows.