Iron Crow has made a reputation for itself as the go-to theatre for queer productions on the East Coast. Fearless in its pursuit of cutting-edge theatre, it has once again tackled a tricky subject with a velvet glove in this light-hearted (though with a couple of somber edges) religious romp, An Act of God.
Written by David Javerbaum, the piece apparently grew out of a series of tweets, morphed into a book—The Last Testament: A Memoir By God—and finally arrived fully developed as a Broadway play in the personage of no less a beloved star than Jim Parsons (he of Big Bang fame) at the fabled Studio 54. That was followed by a second Broadway run, this time with Sean Hayes—otherwise known as “Just Jack”—tossing around the thunderbolts. Both shows were originally directed by Joe Mantello.
Plot-wise, well, there isn’t one, unless you count the first five books of the Bible as a plot. The event starts with the cast of three milling around on stage in warm-up clothes. As the lights dim, one of the actors does the usual blah-blah-blah about exits and cell phones, then we are told to mark our "ballots" to see which of the three will play God. I suspect it was a done deal ahead of time because the audience winner to play the part is announced as Iron Crow favorite Nicholas Miles. A pouting Jack Taylor takes umbrage at not being picked and sulks about until he somehow wrangles the coveted role away from Nicholas—you’ll have to go see the play for that reveal.
The rest of the show is handled like a celestial version of Family Feud, with the angel Gabriel standing in for whoever the current host of the TV game show is. But instead of the expected responses to questions like "things you find in your grandma’s purse," each category is one of the Ten Commandments hilariously revised, with God offering insights into what He was thinking at the time. As written by Mr. Javerbaum, God is the funniest millennial who happens to have created the universe, heaven, and hell and gleefully shares the backstory on all of it. Hilarity ensues. End of plot.
It seems a rather flimsy structure to hang a 90-minute performance on, but c’mon, some of the stuff in the first five books of the Bible (otherwise known as the Torah) is funny as hell. And lots of it is just ridiculous without the component of faith that most of the world’s religions are based on. But this piece works so well and is so entertaining because so much of it is based on material lots of people know about and can relate to, told to them by the Man Himself.
Sean Elias, Iron Crow’s brilliant artistic director, has once again cut right through to the meat of the piece, making the 90 minutes or so fly by so well-paced that I was surprised when it was over. In true Iron Crow fashion, the stage is dressed with some very clever drapings of fabric on the back wall, some big, fluffy clouds drifting here and there, and the set piece that doubles as a closet on one side and the scoreboard from Family Feud on the other. Designed by James V. Raymond, it suits the weird space of Theatre Project quite well. Thomas P. Gardner’s lights and Zach Sexton’s sound design are especially effective when The Lord is pissed off—lots of thunder and lightning that actually made me jump in my seat—loud, scary, and smartly done. Costumes were minimal, but as everyone knows, if you can dress up Lululemon workout clothes with elaborate wings, the outfit rocks. And put God in a gold-trimmed, vaguely Egyptian frock, and you’re fire.
Rachel Small as the angel Michael is really not given that much to do, but she gives it her all and is a very talented dancer to boot. Nicholas Miles as the angel Gabriela racks up a lot of stage time as the host of the “game show” motif, and both angels do a fine job as backup singers to God when He bursts into song toward the end of the play. According to the press release photos, all three actors apparently rotate in the title role of God, but the performance I caught featured Jack Taylor.
Now, remember, the role was originated on Broadway by Jim Parsons, who used his established persona to great success as God, then followed by Sean Hayes—he of the elasticized facial and bodily expressions he made famous as Jack, "Just Jack!", on Will and Grace. But Mr. Taylor more than measures up in his take on The Almighty. He is irreverent, irreligious, incorrigible, and an absolute laugh riot for most of the 90-minute joy ride of this show. He is not shy about doubling down on deeper emotions, but it's the one-liners and zingers that move the show. Not that there is much else to focus on in what is essentially a one-person comedic extravaganza, this guy grabs the stage and wrestles the audience to the ground. Hell, I’m a Jew, and he had me ready to get to my feet and do a novena.
So, to borrow the phrase from pop music, “What if God were one of us? Just a slob like one of us?” Whether you’re a millennial queen or not, the themes of this script—which, if I can get a little serious here for a minute, turn the dogma on its ear, reinterpreting and reimagining the Divine Plan and making the Head Guy a lot more accessible and comprehensible—are going to be applauded by some and appalling to others, but I can’t imagine not having a giggle or two or an evening’s full of guffaws at An Act of God. But please, if you’re offended by impious humor, this is not the piece for you. As for the rest of us, laugh it up, y’all. Lord knows we need all the chuckles we can get.
Photo Credit: Wilson Freeman
An Act of God runs through January 26
Theatre Project
45 West Preston Street Baltimore MD 21201
Running Time: 1 hrs 30 minutes
Ticket Information here.
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