University of Adelaide Theatre Guild. Little Theatre. 20 Nov 2022
Assumptions about the name of this play are cast to the winds when one discovers that American playwright Robert Askins has written about a manic hand puppet created in a church hobby group.
It is an unlikely subject for a play, entirely preposterous and absurdist - which, of course, is the point.
It could be awful, but director Nick Fagan has cast the incomparable Matt Houston in the lead role of Jason, the loser kid who creates Tyrone, a hand puppet which has his own agenda.
This role requires Houston to swing in and out of the two characters, forlorn Jason gradually becoming more and more in the thrall of the Sesame Street-style creation on his hand. Houston not only has to assert and interplay the two characters but also to manipulate the puppet’s arms and evolving actions. If ever there was a challenging role, this is it.
Matt Houston has it right in hand, so to speak.
His performance is bravura and then some. Not that he gets to play likeable. He’s twice despicable and, as it happens, so are all the other characters in the play. Nasty self-interested Bible Belt Christians, the lot of them. Their language alone is repulsive. This play may hold a theatre record for use of the word “fuck”. And, while the interaction between the recently-widowed puppet-making teacher and her hulking boy admirer is quite funny, it is also grotesque - as is she, a duplicitous grimacing mockery of an exploitative mother.
If one had hoped for redemption from the quiet girl, Jessica, forget it. And as for the pastor, well he carries a bible and is pitiable. So, Hand to God is a pretty repugnant play one way or another. It is just Nick Fagan’s directing skills which keep the audience captivated and looking for resolution. It does not resolve very effectively but, the action has been a very wild ride indeed and no one is going to forget this production in a hurry.
Of course, the Little Theatre makes it intensely proximate and Tom Clancy’s marvellous church design on the upper level has sardonic splendour while the Church hall classroom below is as cheap and tacky, as one may expect.
Good sound, good lighting. Good Southern accents from the cast. All the ingredients are there.
The wonderful Brendan Cooney recently of stunning Stones in His Pockets, gives Pastor Greg a goodly serve of suave smug servant of God while Emily Branford takes the ghastly, strident mother/teacher right over the top and into hapless comedic hinterland. One laughs despite oneself. Tom Tassone embodies the big boy, easy to do as a big boy, but his characterisation is exquisitely nuanced and he gives a stand-out performance. Laura Antoniazzi sweetly depicts the sleeper character, the innocent little girl - or is she? She brings down the house when it comes to the no-spoilers-here climactic scene with Houston. By this time the audience is simply agog.
But, this is Matt Houston’s time to shine. He’s one of the finest actors in town and his talent devours and delivers this show. Applause. Applause.
Samela Harris
When: 20 Nov to 17 Dec
Where: The Little Theatre
Bookings: trybooking.com
