Hand to God

Hand to God, by Robert Askins
University of Vermont
Directed by Craig Wells
Sound Design: Zach Williamson (Abra Clawson Assistant Design)
Lighting Design: John Forbes
Set Design: Jeff Modreger
Costume Design: Martin Thaler
Pictured: Caleb Chew (Jason)
Photo by Dok Wright

Hand to God follows the goings-on of one puppet club run by the local church in Cypress, Texas. Margery, recently a widow, runs the puppet club for three students including her son, Jason; his crush, Jessica; and his bully, Timmy. As the play goes on, Jason’s puppet Tyrone gains more and more control, leading him toward violence. The goal for this design was to stay true to Christian music without seeming to make fun of it, and to follow Jason/Tyrone’s progression into darkness. 

Working alongside Zach Williamson, I assisted primarily by doing research into possible music that could be used in the show. I curated a list of possible music to use, finding choices based on each character and scene transition. The goal during this process was to find array of options from which Zach would have the final say. In the end, all of the music used in Hand to God except for two songs were ones that I found through this research.

This production used the house system at the University of Vermont, in addition to a speaker placed in the trap, two upstage behind the set, one speaker on stage (used as a radio), and an additional speaker over the Stage Left Vom. 

While many of the songs that ended up in the show were found through my research, the moment  I contributed most to in the design which was when Margery leaves Jason stranded on the side of the road. As she turned around and pulled away, the screech of tires faded into “What if God Was One Of Us” by Joan Osborne.

From the designer: “She was a great, smart collaborator, listening to ideas and the director with ease. She researched and proposed music with reasoning and thought. Sitting with her in rehearsals, it was clear that she has listening skills and connected that to the story with ease, offering good observations and ideas.”