The hilarious and provocative Hand to God centers on shy, inquisitive student Jason, who finds an outlet for his burgeoning creativity at the Christian Puppet Ministry in the devoutly religious, relatively quiet small town of Cypress, Texas. Jason's complicated relationships with the town pastor, the school bully, the girl next door and-most especially-his mother are thrown into further upheaval when Jason's hand puppet Tyrone-once soft-spoken-takes on a shocking and dangerously irreverent personality all its own. As Tyrone's influence over Jason steadily grows, Hand to God explores the startlingly fragile nature of faith, morality, and the ties that bind us.
Hand to God will feature the complete cast of the hit 2014 MCC Theater production: Steven Boyer as Jason/Tyrone; Geneva Carr, in her Broadway debut, as Margery; Tony Award nominee Marc Kudisch as Pastor Greg; Sarah Stiles as Jessica; and Michael Oberholtzer, in his Broadway debut, as Timmy. Boyer reprises the role for which he has been honored with an Obie Award, the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Leading Actor in a Play, the Actors' Equity Association Clarence Derwent Award for Most Promising Newcomer, and a citation from the Drama League for Distinguished Performance, among other awards.
Boyer so skillfully separates the roles of awkward teen and possessed puppet you can forget you're watching just one performer. Carr, too, is super-likable as a woman susceptible to bad choices and blind to her son's struggles...There are stand-alone scenes in 'Hand to God' that will floor you....Structurally, 'Hand to God' never quite adds up to the sum of its brilliant parts. There are only so many ways we can be told that faith isn't quite enough, and that we need to find specific ways of dealing with our problems...'Hand to God' helped me finally see the allure in using a puppet to express feelings. It offers distance from ourselves, enabling us to say what we mean-what we feel-without tripping over the baggage that makes it hard to be a human: Will what I say hurt feelings? Is it morally dicey? Is it perverted? There's obviously some Tyrone in all of us. Praise the devil he's found a way to be heard?
...In this highly original and laudably fearless and politically incorrect piece - far indeed from the usual fare here - playwright Robert Askins has essentially taken this performance tradition further...Von Stuelpnagel's cast certainly goes everywhere this piece asks it to go, but the actors also convey a sense of ordinary folks struggling with the chaos that life can suddenly inflict on us all, whether it's in the form of troubled teenagers or bereavement or unfulfilled desire. That compassion is what takes 'Hand to God' beyond the usual condescension you find on Broadway toward Texans or people of faith in general...Boyer, the remarkable star of this enterprise, is thoroughly believable at every moment...'
| 2014 | Off-Broadway |
Original Off-Broadway Production Off-Broadway |
| 2015 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
| 2016 | West End |
Original West End Production West End |
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play | Robert Askins |
| 2015 | Theatre World Awards | Theatre World Award | Geneva Carr |
| 2015 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Play | Moritz von Stuelpnagel |
| 2015 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play | Steven Boyer |
| 2015 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play | Sarah Stiles |
| 2015 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play | Geneva Carr |
| 2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Mariano V. Tolentino Jr. |
| 2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | MCC Theater |
| 2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Ensemble Studio Theatre |
| 2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Jam Theatricals |
| 2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Ayal Miodovnik |
| 2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Lily Fan |
| 2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Timothy Laczynski |
| 2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Jhett Tolentino |
| 2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Joan Raffe |
| 2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | DeSimone/Winkler |
| 2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | LAMS Productions |
| 2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Stephanie Kramer |
| 2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Morris Berchard |
| 2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | CMC |
| 2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Broadway Global Ventures |
| 2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Kevin McCollum |
| 2015 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Robert Askins |
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