Hand to God

March 20 & 21 @ 7:30 p.m. | March 22 @ 2:30 p.m.

Florence Busby Corriher (FBC) Theatre

After the death of his father, meek Jason finds an outlet for his anxiety at the Christian Puppet Ministry, in the devoutly religious, relatively quiet small town of Cypress, Texas. Jason’s complicated relationships with the town pastor, the school bully, the girl next door, and – most especially – his mother are thrown into upheaval when Jason’s puppet, Tyrone, takes on a shocking and dangerously irreverent personality all its own. Hand to God explores the startlingly fragile nature of faith, morality, and the ties that bind us.

From the Director

TBA

— Director

The Shuford School of Performing Arts
The Theatre Arts Department

Presents

Hand to God

Written by

Robert Askins

Directed by

Kian Bannister

Cast Members

Jason/Tyrone — Teddy Lepage
Margery — Haley White
Timothy — Talik Robinson
Jessica — Grayce Pittman
Pastor Greg —Skye Sterrett-Spencer

Production Team

Stage Manager — Madison Alwran
Set Design — Allie Rahman
Light Design — Luca Narciso
Puppet Design and Fabrication — Francine Green-Thomas

The use of any recording device, either audio or video, and the taking of photographs, either with or without flash, is prohibited. Please turn off all electronic devices such as cellular phones, beepers, and watches.

About the Playwright

Credit: Rylan Lowe

Robert Askins was born in Cypress, Texas in 1980. He moved to New York in 2005. Rob has received two EST/Sloan grants, an Arch and Bruce Davis Award for Playwriting, and he has been commissioned by Divercity Theatre and Baylor University. Rob's play, Princes of Waco, was produced and developed by Youngblood. His play Matthew and the Pastor's Wife was a part of Marathon 2010 at the Ensemble Studio Theatre. Rob's play Doll Parts was read with the Write Club sponsored by Arlene Dahl. This summer, he was a part of the 52nd Streets’ Heads or Tail: The Chancey Plays, and at one time, he could be found on the second Sunday of every month running around a fancy Greek restaurant for his site-specific brunch serial All the Little Fishes, about the trials and tribulations of working fine dining in Manhattan with Greeks. Rob is an I-73 and Youngblood Alum.

His most famous work, Hand to God, opened Off-Broadway in 2014 after three sold-out runs at the Ensemble Studio Theatre in 2011-12. The production moved to Broadway on April 7th, 2015, and ran through January 3rd, 2016. Hand to God had a short run in London from February 5th, 2016, to April 30th, 2016. He received the Tony nomination for Best Play in 2015 and won the Off-Broadway Alliance Award for Best New Play and the 2015 Theatre World Award.