Hand to God @ The Booth Theater

Robert Askin’s satirical new play, Hand to God, goes to all extremes in a rich look into a religious family’s broken home and the foul-mouthed sock puppet determined to unleash the devil in us all. 

The play mostly takes place within the blue painted cement walls of the church’s basement-a place for hope and God’s love, as the poster’s on the wall would have you believe anyway. Here we open to a puppet class, a welcome distraction for Margery(Geneva Carr) whose husband died six months earlier and is now at a loss as to how to fill her time. Enter Jason(Steven Boyer), shy, good hearted and seriously crushing on hipster Jessica(Sarah Stiles), while Timothy(Michael Oberholtzer) makes snide comments(he after all needs a place to crash during his mother’s 12 step) while simultaneously trying to woo Marg, in a Stacy’s Mom sort of fantasy. The puppet class is hardly something to be proud of with only Jason finished, his sock puppet Tyrone lovingly placed on his left hand and a rendition of “Jesus Loves Me” in his back pocket. Nevertheless, the show must go on as insisted upon Paster Greg(Marc Kudisch), whose “empty arms” need to be filled and whose “empty ears” need to listen. 

All is as it should be until Jason delivers a fabulous rendition of the famous “Who’s on First”  monologue in the hopes of wooing Jessica. Accepted immediately, Jessica wonders aloud if he made that up himself, “Yes.”

“Liar,” replies the previously voiceless Tyrone in what escalates as full out war on morality led by what might be the devil himself.

Boyer shines in his dual personality role, somehow able to convey both party’s emotions and lines. Though we can see his mouth moving the entire time, the audience cannot help but recognize Tyrone as another player. Unable to dismiss the rest of the cast as caricatures despite their hilarious idioms, Stiles deadpan delivery and Oberholtzer’s physical comic timing come to mind, one cannot help but be pulled into their very real struggles. 

The noteworthy Carr delivers as the frantic Texan mother, hell bent(see what I did there) on being good and honoring her dead husband’s memory, but quite unable to quell her very bad decisions. Her decline into humanity is both achingly familiar and entertaining to observe. 

Directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel this triumphant Cinderella-esque story for theatre, Hand to God started Off-Broadway at the MCC Theatre, only to be enriched on the Broadway stage. Scenic design by Tony award winner Beowulf Borrit, Lighting Design by Jason Lyons, Costume Design by Sydney Maresca, Sound Design by Jill BC Du Boff, and Puppet Design by Marte Johanne Ekhougen. 

Philosophical, at times horror driven, intelligent, and all the while incredibly funny, Hand to God brings a rousing good time to the theatre stage

Review By: Aziza Seven 
Photos By: Joan Marcus

The Velocity of Autumn @ The Booth Theater

Growing old is never easy. It doesn’t get easier when your aging mother locks herself in her house and threatens to burn it the ground since your siblings won’t leave her alone. That is the essence of the story one can expect when stepping into The Booth Theatre on Broadway to experience the brand new play, The Velocity of Autumn now in performances.

Written by Eric Coble, the story profiles an aging woman Alexandra who has locked herself inside her brown stone in Park Slope and is threatening to burn the place down if her two children don’t leave her alone and let her be. It is only when a surprise appearance by her third child occurs, literally surprising her as he climbs into the second story of her house, that things begin to shift. Her son, Chris, sits down and talks with her. He doesn’t have to plead with her because before he knows it, which comes out of their conversations in which he has with her simply catching up on all he has missed since he has been gone.

Estelle Parsons stars as Alexandra in the new piece and delivers a stirring performance as the aging mother of three. Parsons brings to life a character many audience members instantly connect with from their own lives. She delivers several emotional monologues including one about losing herself as she ages, which really connects with the audience. As the play goes on, she not only finds herself more vulnerable but also leaves the audience more vulnerable a well. Through her, we better understand our role as caretakers to those in our lives who we help. We realize we must not talk down or belittle their actions as they already doing it themselves constantly. I feel confident in saying; this piece would not be possible without Parsons at the helm.

Stephen Spinella stars as Chris in the production and gives Parsons a run for her money delivering an equally as impressive performance. Spinella connects to many of the audience members who are also taking care of their parents and channels the emotions and actions many of us have taken with those we deem older. However, Spinella’s connection to his mother is one of a kind. He not only channels a person we all are at times but shows us how easily we can change the way we handle situations simply by switching how we look at it. Much like Parsons, he delivers several beautiful monologues about life and also has a few hilarious New York jokes you can’t help but crack up over. He is definitely not overshadowed by Parsons performance and is a great actor to play such a role.

As for the technical elements of the production, there is a unit set apartment, designed by Eugene Lee, which is capped off by a giant, beautiful tree just outside the residence. I won’t give away the symbolism in it but I will add there is some fantastic lighting as the day progresses designed by Rui Rita.

I feel like my lack of a recommendation to run to see The Velocity of Autumn comes from my lack of experience in such a situation as the play puts forth. However, it did connect with an overwhelming amount of the audience who left buzzing regarding their similar situations to the play they just witnessed. And while I can’t say I connected with The Velocity of Autumn at this point in my life personally, I can say that when that time comes, I feel as though I will be able to better approach said situation having seen this piece.

Review By: Chris Luner
Photos By: Joan Marcus