Hand To God review

After coming out of this fantastically uproarious, shocking and dirty show, the only thing I could think was, “I just watched two puppets have sex”

Robert Askins’s Hand To God, was originally performed on Broadway in 2015, and is now being shown at the Old Fitz Theatre in Kings Cross. Directed by Alexander Berlage (Cry Baby, American Psycho), Hand To God is a constant explosion of insanity, energy and fun.

With superb lighting and set design, the play takes place in a small church basement. Overlooking this basement is a massive picture of Jesus, draped in the American flag and arms open wide. Which makes the rest of the play feel even more sinful.

The story starts with a puppet making workshop, in this class is Jessica, who’s your typical ‘girl next door’ type, Jason, the teacher’s son who has feelings for Jessica, and Timothy, who likes to bully both Jessica and Jason and is only there for one reason, he wants to have sex with the teacher, Margery. However Timothy’s not the only one who wants to sleep with Jason’s mum. The pastor of the church would gladly date Margery.

Margery herself, on the other hand, just lost her husband six months ago, and has been trying to focus on one thing. Jesus Christ. All this chaos is already a great start for a story, but it gets even crazier when Jason creates a puppet called Tyrone, that comes to life and says things Jason would never even dream of saying out loud.

Each scene in Hand To God descends into more madness than the last. And while I was aware that this show was crazy and silly, I also noticed that it was oddly meaningful. With questions about faith and love and what it means to be human. I do unfortunately feel as though I missed some of the more quiet and symbolic moments while watching this show, one reason being that the majority of the audience had just been to the pub above the theatre and were ready to laugh at every single joke. Which made the atmosphere very fun, but not very introspective.

Overall, I think this was an amazing production of Hand To God. The lighting was creative, the set was absorbing and playful, and the actors were brilliant. I would more than happily come back again just to watch those actors, every performance was spot on and incredibly humorous.

Astra, 16 (she/her)

Hand To God is an unbelievably comedic show that will leave you laughing even after the show. While watching the show I was in a constant state of surprise and was cackling the whole time with the rest of the audience.

Hand To God explores very adult themes with very, very honest humour that had the entire audience in a constant state of laughter. All of the actors were amazing, matching their characters completely and performing effortlessly.

Jason, played by Philip Lynch, is a very interesting character, who has a very intense development throughout the show, and a very comedic character, that tends to make the whole audience laugh at how awkward he is about talking to girls, luckily Jason has a wingman.

Tyrone is Jason’s puppet and is engulfed in the idea of being absolutely and definitely better than everyone, and is determined to teach Jason how to be a ‘bad boy’ like Timothy, who gets all of the girls. Lynch performed amazingly, fulfilling his very difficult characters’ needs.

Timothy, expertly played by Ryan Morgan is the church’s bad boy, making extremely rude, nasty jokes to the rest of the group, and the audience. This is quite a hilarious image as Jesus is cleverly depicted on the wall directly behind him. Timothy is the classic destructive character, who is willing to do anything to please Margery.

Margery is the adult on duty, mother of Jason, and is struggling to control this diverse group of children and her own son. Merridy Eastman performs Margery with expert knowledge and talent, never breaking character and constantly making everyone in the audience laugh endlessly at her. Margery has Timothy hot on her tail, while also struggling with the Pastor’s advances that are most definitely too soon for Margery after her loss.

The Pastor of the church, playing some very stereotypical roles, is performed by Gerard Carroll, who is a very talented actor. The Pastor seems to have a hero complex and is determined to prove to Margery that he is all she needs while trying to disprove Timothy’s jokes.

This leads us to Jessica, played by Michelle Ny, who is the only one who seems to be responsible enough to deal with the issues at hand, and is definitely the most mentally mature character of the ensemble. Jessica knows Jason is interested in her, and she knows there is something up with that puppet of his. Ny performed with excellency and a lot of control.

The whole cast is very cohesive and works together effortlessly and with trust. Does Margery have the time and support to pull off this puppet show? To find out have a look at Red Line Productions. It is something worth watching, you will cry, but crying from laughter is the best isn’t it?​

Josephine, 16 (she/her)

Red Line Productions’ Hand To God plays at the Old Fitz Theatre until 26 March. Book your tickets here.