The
definition of a passion play is a dramatic performance representing the Passion
of Jesus Christ, involving his suffering and death. It is a staple of many
celebrations of Lent in several Christian denominations.
The
thing is, that word “passion” can take you in more than one direction. And in
this play by Robert Askins, there is plenty of passion set in a church
building, but most of it is of the four-letter-word, violent and
sexually-drenched variety.
Taking
a cue from the outrageous puppets in Avenue
Q, this dark comedy centers on a Sunday school classroom of a church in a
small Texas town. This is where recently widowed Margery is trying to teach her
charges Jason, Jessica and Timothy about the Lord, using puppets as a vehicle
to reach them. Jason is her son, and it turns out she reaches him all too well,
since timid Jason has apparently bonded with his puppet Tyrone in a dangerous
way.
Indeed,
it seems balls-to-the-wall Tyrone has taken over Jason’s fragile personality
and is using him to lambaste everyone in sight, including Pastor Greg. As
Tyrone says in his opening speech, speaking from a puppet stage in the
classroom: “The same motherfucker who invented the group kill and team
virtue—that ballsy piece of pig shit—topped all his previous work and invented
the devil.”
And
Tyrone is here to make sure the devil gets his due. As performed by Luke
Wehner, Jason/Tyrone is a fascinating and at times abhorrent creation, giving
voice to the unspeakable thoughts Jason has swirling around in his head—as most
of us do, of course. Tyrone is all id and, since he's not actually President of the United States, he's hilarious.
Meanwhile, Timothy (Austin Gonser) is a walking adolescent
hard-on with maximum sexual potency and very little focus, Jessica (Molly
Israel) is trying to deal with Jason’s infatuation and Margery begins to let
down her pretense of civility and starts to respond to Timothy’s insistent entreaties.
During all this, Pastor Greg (David Burgher) is trying to make time with
Margery.
In
other words, it’s a pretty conventional church setting with all the hypocrisy,
concealed emotions and screwed-up family relationships fully revealed. And that
is what Askins is about, as he thrusts Tyrone into this supposedly calm and
rational world.
Sure-handed
director Matthew Wright keeps the pacing tight, even when the script tends to
get bogged down in a bit too much repetition. And the ensemble performances are
quite adept. But it is Wehner’s star turn as the man with the devil stuck on
the end of his arm that steals the show and is worth the price of admission.
Hand
to God
Through
May 21 at Dobama Theatre, 2340 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights, 216-932-3396,
dobama.org
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