The very disquieting St. Louis Actors’ Studio’s Hand to God will probably be the subject of debate next year when the Critics Circle discusses whether it’s a drama or a comedy. Ibdb.com calls it a comedy, but I’m glad I didn’t have to make that decision for them. There are laughs, sometimes uncomfortable ones, but it’s far from what one reviewer in another city called a “madcap comedy”.
Smallish Protestant church of uncertain denomination is trying to start a puppet ministry. (We can call that the first off-kilter thing about the play; if it’s a puppet ministry, who’s really running things? Sorry, political joke.) The responsibility has been given to Margery (Colleen Backer), who’s trying to wrangle three unmotivated teenagers, including her own son Jason (Mitchell Henry-Eagles). The other two are Jessica (Phoebe Richards), who vaguely reminds one of the long-departed-but-still-missed Lisa Loopner character of Saturday Night Live fame, and Timmy (Josh Rotker), a hulking, somewhat older-seeming fellow who’s parked there because his mom is at an AA meeting in another part of the building.
It all seems so…wholesome, even though Margery knows nothing about puppetry and is leafing through a book for answers. But the kids are anywhere from reluctant to openly defiant and she’s clearly pretty fragile. Pastor Greg (Eric Dean White) comes by and insists she can do this, and he’ll do whatever he can do help in any way. He’s there for her, he says.
Only Jessica and Justin have actually finished their puppets. Jason has even named his Tyrone, and there’s a cute-but-awkward scene where Justin and Tyrone do part of the old Abbott and Costello “Who’s on First” routine to impress Jessica. That’s when we begin to realize that Henry-Eagles has this two-voices/two-characters/one-person thing down pretty pat. It’s also when Tyrone begins to show that he has a mind of his own – or is that Justin being brave behind a facade? Meanwhile Margery tries to have a talk with Timmy with dramatic results.
Whether Tyrone really is Justin’s id or something entirely different is one of the things we’re left to ponder here. There are enough dramas about wicked puppets that it’s not hard to make the leap early on in the show. We’re left thinking about that and the nature of evil. Sure. It’s a comedy. Right?
Good ensemble work overall, with Backer and Henry-Eagles leading the way. White’s Pastor Greg is just fumbling his way along rather than joining in on the creepiness; we already have enough as it is. Rotker is wonderfully menacing and Richards holds her own in the scene with her puppet and Tyrone. Director Andrea Urice has put together a fine crew off-stage, too, including Patrick Huber with a clever set design, Steve Miller’s light design, and Robin Weatherall masterminding the sound.
One’s pleasure at this show will depend on tolerance for off-color humor and for another story about puppets gone wild. Some folks say it’s brilliant, but I’m just not there.
Hand to God
through April 24
St. Louis Actors’ Studio
The Gaslight Theater
358 N. Boyle
314-458-2978
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