Hand to God NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (880)
See it if you can enjoy humor that is dark and irreverant. Performances all around were incredible, especially Boyer and Carr.
Don't see it if you are easily offended and don't like dark comedies
See it if you enjoy New & creative theater. Dark & hilarious. Kept wondering if there were people in the theater that knew what they were getting into
Don't see it if you are 'born again' or erstwhile highly religious without question. Read more
See it if you loved Avenue Q and ever wondered what would happen if a puppet became possessed by the devil.
Don't see it if you are earnestly pious and easily offended.
See it if you want to see an amazing dark comedy.
Don't see it if you so not like the idea of laughing at some uncomfortable topics.
See it if you enjoy new takes on theatre. Easily my favorite play of the season, with a quirky balance of humor and drama, great use of puppetry.
Don't see it if you are uncomfortable with adult language, coming of age stories, or explorations of dark material in a religious setting.
See it if thank god for this wild, poorly-behaved, hilarious, ferocious, bloody, amazing play, and for Stephen Boyer's virtuoso double-turn.
Don't see it if you're offended by stage violence
See it if love brilliant performances, edgy material/writing that makes you think after you leave the theater and don't mind being shocked!
Don't see it if you get offended easily, don't like to have your beliefs challenged or find puppet fornication disturbing.
See it if You want to get a headache (you know the one at the back of your head and jaw) from laughing so hard
Don't see it if You find explicit humor distasteful
Critic Reviews (41)
"A savage, often hilarious, and profoundly irreligious satire...it’s not a lot more irreverent than "The Book of Mormon", but it is a lot dirtier and there are no dance numbers. Askin's script often betrays an adolescent desire to shock and scandalise...Some of the motivations are explained away tidily and a lot of the humour is puerile. But the puerile bits are particularly funny. Askins is smart and engaged enough that even the play’s most outrageous actions seem grounded in character."
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"In act two of this raunchy comedy, Askins and his able director Moritz von Stuelpnagel do introduce two hand puppets that very convincingly masturbate, perform oral sex on each other and then copulate in a series of strikingly human positions. While the story of “Hand to God” proceeds in a most linear fashion, the sex is novel, and the whole shebang ends in a maelstrom of self-inflicted violence that stops the laughter in your throat."
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"Off-Broadway, "Hand to God" was a wicked little church satire...Improbably pumped up for Broadway, the offbeat reverence shrinks in charm and impact. The gory yet sweet-natured spoof feels more like a drawn-out sketch, and the gleeful dirty-talk gets childish when hammered by good actors encouraged to shriek...Late in the short evening, there is that clench of impeccably portrayed puppet sex. If the rest of the night just feels like foreplay, however, that's not play enough for Broadway."
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"Structurally, “Hand to God” never quite adds up to the sum of its brilliant parts. There are only so many ways we can be told that faith isn’t quite enough, and that we need to find specific ways of dealing with our problems. Much of the dialogue seems designed merely to shock, though it builds with such intensity you may be too busy rolling in the aisles to notice."
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"Messed-up, angry, needy, dark and in desperate need of mental help...It's like nothing else on Broadway and a brave choice both to open here and to attend...Moritz von Stuelpnagel directs with a flair for allowing the play's little absurdities to reveal themselves naturally and a skill with onstage physicality...Askins at times seems to fumble for a deeper meaning about the individual getting lost in the collective, but while he comes close to profundity, it's really his cast that leaves an impression."
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"This is that rare show that changes and challenges the foundations of traditional theater… Equal parts dark comedy, absurdist drama and horror/gore show, 'Hand to God' is both funny and frightening...but playwright Robert Askins’ tale is highly original as well. At times scathingly hilarious but ultimately disturbing, this tragicomic masterpiece takes digs at everything from Christianity and teenage angst to taboo sex. It is unlike anything you’ve ever seen on the New York stage in years."
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"One of the funniest plays I’ve seen in years, and it reaches an unexpected depth that really impresses me...A series of wickedly funny and tragic events transpires. You’ll want to go along for the ride. "
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"The path to the Tony Award season took a curve last night as Richard Askins’ original play, “Hand to God,” was such a hit that it took everyone by surprise...totally original, funny and angry and sad, and sure to leave a mark not only this spring but for some time to come...it’s also a full play, with fully realized ideas about religion and mortality, Big Ideas and small ones. Director Moritz von Stuelpnagel's got this extraordinary ensemble on a tight leash and never lets up."
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