Hand to God

I got to see Hand to God the other day at Dobama Theater.  I enjoyed it and all of it's dark humor, but it wasn't what I was expecting.   It was advertised as a cross between Avenue Q and the Book of Mormon, two shows that I really love.  This show had puppets and a religious theme, but that's where the similarities ended.

Premise: a widowed woman works for the church and is trying to put on a puppet show.  Her son, Jason has a puppet (Tyrone) that has a very dark streak, eventually leading the group to believe that he is possessed by the devil.   

Tons of dark religious psychology in this show.  Eventually, Tyrone is revealed to be a manifestation of Jason's pain for his father's death.   Also, lots of violence and a gratuitous puppet sex scene.   This show is definitely for the 21 and over crowd.   It's not a musical, so you don't go home with a song in your heart.   Tyrone's last speech actually reminds me of Puck's at the end of A Midsummer Night's Dream.  The effect is eerie and fascinating.   :If you like creepy plays, watch this.  If dolls and puppets scare you, or if the religious overtones hit close to home, I'd advise you to avoid it.   It's not every day you see a guy bludgeon his own hand with a hammer.

Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty

We just got back from seeing Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty!  I am feeling intensely spoiled.   The show is straight out of London with the original cast.  It hasn't even been to New York yet!


It's a darker, Gothic take on the story of classic fairytale.  It uses Tchaikovsky's original score (which many of you may be familiar with due to the Disney version).   The choreography is amazing.  The costumes are beautiful.   Not a single stitch of dialogue and you know exactly what is going on.  It's extremely magical and sensual.

The show starts in 1890 and ends in modern times.  Princess Aurora is obtained by her parents with help of the evil fairy.  The baby princess is played by a puppet and is extremely energetic, climbing the curtains.  The king and queen forget to thank the evil fairy and the kid gets cursed to die, but the other fairies soften it to sleep.   The princess sleeps for 100 years, and how does her love stay alive until she wakes?  Vampires.

This was a wonderful interpretation of Sleeping Beauty.   I'm going to find more of Matthew Bourne's ballets on DVD.  He has a real gift for staging and choreography.

War Horse

Today we saw War Horse, the first touring Broadway series play I have seen.  It's amazing!   A drama about the special relationship an young man, Albert, has with his horse.  Originally, the horse, named Joey, was purchased by his father trying to outdo his uncle at an auction.  The family really can't afford it, so the plan is to sell Joey later.  Eventually, the horse is able to do plow work in the fields and his family says they will let Albert keep Joey, but his dad ends up selling the animal to the English army to go fight in France at the beginning of World War 1. The boy enlists in an effort to go find his beloved pet.

Okay, I bet you're thinking, why would a war drama about a boy and a horse be in the Broadway rotation?   Simple.  Puppetry magic.  All the animals on stage are puppets from the Handspring Puppet Workshop from South Africa.  The horses are huge constructs that take 3 puppeteers to operate.  One person runs the head from a stick to the side of the horse.  The middle person controls the horse's breathing and front limbs.  The hind puppeteer controls the tail and back legs.  It is amazing how realistic the horses are.  Even though you can see the puppeteers, the motions are so true to life that it's easy to forget the people are inside.

At the pre-show talk, we were told that Joey was introduced to the Cleveland Mounted Police Force.  The real horses were completely fooled and greeted Joey as one of their own.

War stories aren't exactly my favorite subject.  I even had difficulty watching all the intense battles in Lord of the Rings.  I liked this show though.   It is truly theater magic.