“The thing about a saviour is you never know where to look. Might just be the place you saw the devil before.” Hand to God, Vaudeville Theatre, London 24.03.2016

The first play of 2016, and boy did I choose a good one to start off with. My friend Jess put out a group message to see who would be interested in purchasing tickets having found a deal on LoveTheatre website for £30 tickets, it didn’t take me long to take up the offer, and also put forward Graham too! So on a very wet and rainy Thursday evening we kicked off the 4 day Easter Weekend with a trip down to London!

The Hand to God is a Broadway play written by Robert Askins, and has now transferred to the streets of the West End in London introducing something new and different to the theatres. It tells the story of a messed up family who has lost their father, a girl who just wants to help, a bully who just wants his own way, and a pastor who is offering his church for help and support. But in amongst this crazy clan is one hand puppet, who has a mind and opinions of his own that leads him to being completely out of control, shocking, taking no prisoners, and unstoppable.  With tag lines such as “Sesame Street meets The Exorcist” its one that gets the viewers intrigued to what they have got themselves in for.

I made sure that I would not find out anything about this production prior to me sitting in our seats, however I did know who the cast were, my partner Graham however looked on the internet the night before and all he could comment was ‘its puppets…’ but I knew that this would be one that he would enjoy so I wasn’t worried that I would have a repeat of Elf the Musical. This is the first time I have been into the Vaudeville Theatre having past it many times with many different plays, and shows performing there it is one that tends no to have the long running productions, and when entering the foyer I could understand why, being that it is one of the little theatres in London it was quite cosy when we walked into Stalls. Seated in row N our view was not an issues even with the circle that over hanged above us  we could still see the stage as clear as day (as seen in the photo).

We sat waiting to see what we were in for, and awaited for the lights to be dimmed and the play to start, and from the moment Tyrone (the Hand puppet) appeared we were in for a treat and a lot of laugh’s!

The cast tonight was as follows:

Margery – Janie Dee

Pastor Greg – Neil Pearson

                                                 Jason / Tyrone – Harry Melling

                                                      Jessica – Jemima Rooper

                                                       Timothy – Kevin Mains

the most known actors tonight for myself were Neil Pearson, who many know from the Bridget Jones films, and Harry Melling who was Dudley in the Harry Potter film who is all grown up now, the others were all new to me on the stage, and they were all brilliant at holding the story together however mad it might have been at times.

Harry completely shone as Jason, a troubled young teenager who is just trying to have a life without his dad, and support his mum as best he can, but with Tyrone at the end of his Hands that doesn’t really go to plan, and he completely changed when Tyrone took over, what he can do with a puppet is amazing, and your really did feel that he wasn’t in anyway connected to Harry at all, and made him really come to life. When watching puppets on stage it is clear that you have to work extra hard in performing, as well as the audience watching, and the magic comes from the relationship of the puppet and the puppeteer as without each other the puppet would be well dead, and a skilled puppeteer can make the Puppet an extension of themselves, feeling what it feels, and thinks its thoughts, conveying them through the puppet.  This is demonstrated throughout when Harry performed completely changing the role or himself through Tyrone, from a troubled boy who just wants to fit in, to the cheeky naughty devilish character that he created through his mind, and hand. When watching him act just with him with the puppet on stage was something in its self and at times you had to remind yourself that that is just one person up there, cause he made the puppet do things like drag him off his bed that looked so realistic, it really made you think. Harry really showed the audience that he wasn’t just that little choppy kid from Harry Potter but a brilliant talented Actor!

Janie Dee is apparently not a stranger to the West End stage, and tonight she portrayed the of Margery a widowed mother, who is just trying to move on with her life, and stay strong for her son, and religion. But the pressure is too much and we watch her break down, make wrong decisions, and yet we feel for her. I enjoyed watching her on stage, and I can tell why she has one so many awards for her roles.

The rest of the cast were great, Jessica, and Timothy played by Jemima, and Kevin, were strong in their roles, and I couldn’t help but like the role of Jessica who herself is just a young girl who like Jason is different but happy with who she is and you like how she supports him, and knows how and when to do it. Kevin is just a kid who doesn’t know t he wants or thinks he knows and will stop at nothing to get it, but hides behind his rough, and bully side than show his insecure self. Neil Pearson as the Pastor who wants to help Margery, and does even when he gets shot down by her when he confesses his love for her was very strong in his role. I enjoyed watching them all and they worked well as a team.

The Hand to God is a laugh out loud new Comedy that brings something different to the stage (even a cheeky sex puppet scene), I am really happy that I go the chance to see it, and I did get my money’s worth. however it is not for the young generation and I wouldn’t recommend it as a family outing, but one to go with your partner or friends for a date night, or get together so get your tickets now!