Act of God

Exploring masculinity, mental health and class, Act of God is a darkly comedic debut play from writer and actor Jacob O'Connor. With a background as a 12-time World Champion Kickboxer in his childhood, Jacob O'Connor draws on his own experiences growing up working class in Manchester, weaving the poetry he now writes into the script. Act of God follows quick-witted Jack as he's sent on a ten-week therapy-via-poetry course. Reluctant to engage, he is determined to get through without admitting how he feels, but facing him is a therapist with one deceptively simple question: are you telling the truth, or have you told this story so many times you now believe it? As they talk, play chess and spar over the poems he brings each week, the changing of the subject begins to crack, forcing him to confront the one thing he can't quite talk his way out of. Rooted in the North and exploring the complicated ways we learn to cope, Act of God asks what happens when those coping mechanisms stop working, and whether saying something sideways still counts as saying it at all.