Title
Hand to God
Theatre
Watertower Theatre, Addison, TX
Dates
August 3-26, 2018
Synopsis
In the devoutly religious, relatively quiet small town of Cypress, Texas, Margery is a widow whose husband has recently died. To keep her occupied, her minister, Pastor Greg, has asked her to run the puppet club. Fundamentalist Christian congregations often use puppets to teach children how to follow the Bible and avoid Satan. The teenage members of the club are her son Jason; Jessica, the girl next door that Jason has a crush on; and Timmy, the neighborhood troublemaker whose mother is attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings at the church. Pastor Greg wants the puppet club to put on a performance at the church next Sunday. The characters become sexually attracted to each other. Jason’s hand puppet, Tyrone, takes on a life of his own, announces that he is Satan, leads them into sin, and expresses secrets that the characters would rather have left unacknowledged.
Cast
Jessica – Debbie Reugsegger
Jason – Parker Gray
Margery – Shannon McGrann
Timothy – Garret Storms
Pastor Greg – Thomas Ward
Creative Team
Director – Joanie Schultz
Asst. Director – Mandy Rausch
Stage Manager – Carol Grant
Scenic Design – Richard Ouellette
Lighting Design – Keith Parham
Sound Design – Matthew Nielsen
Properties Design – Hillary Abbott
Asst. Stage Manager – Joe Heike
Final Thoughts
Stage Layout
I’m really not sure where to begin. I guess we’ll start by saying that I personally really enjoyed this show however it is not for everyone. In fact, I went with a group of friends and one left during intermission. I knew nothing about this show going into it other than it’s got puppets and is a dark comedy with adult themes. Yes, that just about sums it up. On the Playbill, there is fine print that says “Contains Puppet Nudity”. We’ll revisit that in a moment.
We arrived about an hour before the show to make sock puppets. Again, I had no idea what we were doing. To the right you can see a bird’s eye view of the stage. What I’ve always been impressed with at the Watertower Theatre is the staging. From Proscenium