Hand to God, Robert Askins’s brilliantly discomfiting comedy about the sordid but humane goings-on in the youth ministry of a suburban Houston Lutheran church, is an ecclesiastical riddle wrapped in an enigma inside a horny, foul-mouthed hand puppet.
In director Josh Sticklin’s admirably salacious production for the Keegan Theatre, Drew Sharpe is sublime as Jason — a troubled kid who might be suffering from a mild to moderate case of demonic possession — and as Tyrone, that chaos-agent puppet who just might be sentient, and may even be Satan his own furry self. (Kudos to puppet designer Luke Hartwood, who makes Tyrone’s progression from mischievous, mitten-size companion to swollen, razor-toothed beast something to behold.)
The rest of the cast is strong, too, especially Shadia Hafiz as Margery, Jason’s widowed mother. She runs the church’s puppet class and must deal with advances — age-inappropriate and unwanted, respectively — from a student (Jordan Brown) and an overbearing but ultimately decent pastor (Dominique Gray). The game and convivial gamine Hannah Taylor rounds out the ensemble as Jolene, a girl who takes an interest in Jason, and as Jessica, the sultry-voiced puppet bombshell (if that’s a thing) who catches Tyrone’s googly eye. The Children’s Television Workshop wants nothing to do with this.
