So, this
was actually a Christmas present. That statement may well make you despair of
my writing schedule – but I can assure you I am not that far behind. I just
have very disorganized friends. They meant to take me to a play for Christmas you
see. We ended up doing it in February. That is how well coordinated our
schedules are. It’s honestly enough to make one want to throw the towel in completely…
I am glad
we didn’t though. When we took our seats and caught our first, pre-show glimpse
of the set one thing was clear. This was going to be either a “love” or a
“hate” affair. The reviews seemed to agree. After we booked the tickets I
coincidentally ran into some very well-known publications reviewing the play
and honestly, they didn’t have enough derogatory terms to insult it with. One
of my friends especially doesn’t go to the theatre that often so I was quite
worried about poisoning her for life against the art form.
But the
inevitable happened, the curtain came up and we entered the world of Tyrone,
which happens to be in Texas. And incidentally Jason (Harry Melling – if the
name is familiar it’s because you may know him better as Dudley Dursely from
the Harry Potter franchise). Jason is going through a bit of a moment. His
father has just passed away – which is hard enough on anyone. His mother is
trying to cope by running a Christian hand puppet workshop. It only has two
students (one the school bully who is there mainly by force) and naturally,
Jason is roped in whether he wants to be there or not… The workshop isn’t going
that well but there is nothing really out of the ordinary going on, well, except
for one small matter the others aren’t aware of… Tyrone – Jason’s hand puppet -
isn’t quite like the others… In fact, as far as Jason can tell he is completely
sentient and out of control – and is about to take over Jason’s life if someone
– anyone! – won’t do something fast…
Before we
get to pondering and analyzing, I just want to get one statement, straight from
the gut, out there. This was by far and away one of the funniest things – if
not THE funniest thing – I have ever seen in my life. I howled with laughter,
stamped on the floor and gave the play a standing ovation. On the other hand,
do be warned. If you consider yourself a Christian (especially) or a believer
in any way and if you are easily offended - steer well clear of this play. It
bars no holds and packs a lot of punches, mostly aimed at the religious
establishment and the social order we live in today. I saw one review (positive
this time) describe the play as Sesame street crossed with The Exorcist. Cant’
think of a more accurate description.
Now, I need
to stress one point. You may have gotten the rather mistaken impression that
this is some kind of dry and slightly off the wall religious and political
satire. No. It’s more like the kind of drunken rant you have when you have had
several whiskeys too many and you are howling with rage against “the
establishment”. It’s the kind of conversation you have at work dos and never
quite get round to living down. But there is not where the inappropriate
behavior stops. The “below the belt” stuff is… Way off the wall… I mean you
need to be not shocked easily on many, many levels.
Harry
Melling literally bowled me over with his performance in this show. It is not a
great show of ventriloquism – as most reviews have already pointed out one can
clearly see his lips moving throughout the show. The point of the show is not
to dissimulate that Jason and Tyrone are one and the same. In fact, the more
the play goes on the more obvious it is that the aim of the game is to explore
the two sides of Jason’s personality. But I was absolutely blown away by the
way Melling was able to portray the two opposing characters on stage at the
same time, transitioning so smoothly from one to the other yet separating the
two characters so well and so clearly. A feat in performance and acting
technique, this much is for sure.
Hand to God
is an uproarious step into the unknown. I want to gush on and on about it but
really, a lot of the comedy comes from the element of surprise. And as this play
burns the rulebook and bends over forward, backwards and sidewise to surprise
and shock you it would be so very unfair to rat on it. It’s still playing at
the Vaudeville theatre and cheap tickets are relatively easy to come by. I
would say it’s well worth the jump – and the stiches you are about to get in
your sides…
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