Evan Casey, Tom Story, and Jamie Smithson (Margot Schulman)
Given the state of the world today, perhaps it isn’t surprising that God is kind of a prick.
He certainly is in An Act of God, anyway. In Signature Theater’s production of the cheeky comedy, God has come down to earth in the temporary guise of “D.C. Actor Tom Story” (the show has some meta fun with this concept) here to offer a little revamp to those outdated Ten Commandments. You see, God isn’t thrilled that those rules he tossed off so many centuries ago have become his enduring legacy—and they’re sorely in need of an update.
The good news, regarding the latest Good News: the updated commandments are rather palatable, at least to the average theatergoer’s live-and-let-live sensibilities. Turns out the Lord’s pretty chill about gay people, a stance endorsed by Evan Casey and Jamie Smithson’s winning if stereotypically sassy Archangels, continually at God’s side during this production. God’s not interested in petty human wars driven by religion. And don’t expect him to influence a sporting event so that the home team wins (Nats fans, you’re on your own).
These little amendments aren’t put forth in order to paint God as a particularly benevolent or compassionate deity. It’s more that a supreme being just isn’t all that interested in the petty concerns of mankind, a race he created more on a whim than anything else.
An Act of God takes a brief, comedic walk through some of the highlights of Genesis from creation to the flood with Story offering breezy, sardonic commentary along the way. Casey’s archangel Michael is there to stand in as a proxy for the audience, sometimes asking pointed questions that lead to the show’s briefly serious moments.
None of these queries will be surprising to anyone who’s spent a few minutes contemplating the contradictions of a supreme being (“Why is there suffering?” et al). But it’s during those times that God’s short temper is most easily provoked—he is, after all, suffering from “wrath management issues,” after all.
The play got its start as a biting Twitter account before it became a book and eventually made its way to Broadway, where sitcom stars ranging from The Big Bang Theory‘s Jim Parsons to Will & Grace‘s Sean Hayes inhabited the role. The part of God is made for performers with sharp wit, skilled comic timing, and charisma to spare, and Story’s no exception.
As for the show, it’s irreverent but rarely shocking, and the pun-scattered wordplay seldom lands with much bite. Maybe it’s for the best—a hilarious zinger involving the musical Cabaret and the Holocaust seemed to generate an awkward “too soon” reaction from the audience.
By contrast, Signature’s patrons seemed more than ready to welcome the show’s abrupt turn at the play’s closing, where a shift in cosmic events provokes God to exit the theater with style, courtesy of a glitzy musical number. Truly provocative, edgy humor might be a hard sell that An Act of God isn’t quite committed to offer. But it’s not surprising that the receptive recent home of Jesus Christ Superstar would heartily embrace their God’s showstopping side.
An Act of God runs through November 26 at Signature Theater. $40-$95. Buy tickets here.
