This past Sunday afternoon, I went to see Hand to God at the Kitchen Theatre. This play was not at all what I expected. It involved puppets, religion, a puppet club at a church, adult actors playing young children, and a lot of dark jokes about morality.

I really enjoyed the set of of the Kitchen Theatre, which is an intimate stage that nearly involved the audience. It was a small space with seats close to the center of the room. It was as if we were literally sitting on stage with the actors. I have seen some shows on Broadway and I sat very far away so the nuances of the performances get lost in the distance. In the Kitchen Theatre, it was as if I were immersed in the story, and the actors were interacting with us. It was especially potent in this particular play where the fourth wall was broken a few times and the entirety of the performance only involves a few characters.

The story was about how at times, repressing emotions can lead to disastrous outcomes. A “possessed” puppet takes hold of a child and creates a long string of messy situations for him and his mother. This puppet claims to be satan and embraces sin. However, it seems that this “puppet” and its existence serve to show the destructive nature of the people that surround us.