An Act of God, The Vaults review
★★★★☆ by Ifan Llewelyn
Making a little fun of the Holy Book has always had its place in theatre. Even since the days of Aristophanes, along with politics and sex, religion has been a constant target of satire on stage. Today it’s still very much the case with hundreds of London tourists and fourth daters still lining up for evening performances of The Book of Mormon. Far from the lush red velvet drapes of the Palladium, taking over the cracked concrete walls of The Vaults Theatre, this “one-God show” tackles godhead head-on. David Javerbaum‘s An Act of God is a raucous evening of terrible puns and queer reclamation in a show that marries the heavenly and hilarious.
In the beginning, God takes the form of pannel-show darling Zoe Lyons and sent down to her two Archangels, and the stage was without form, and void; and dar… Well, you get the picture. Decked in her finest silk PJs, God returns to earth to set the record straight on a few things but like a Jeff Bezos accepting his Amazon deliveries, she can’t help but get carried away with reminiscing about her biggest critical success. Of course, there’s the whole of creation, and glittered in there are a few familiar tales, fables and parables. Almost like a biblical Best Hits playlist.
In the role of the ranting and raving Father, Zoe Lyons brings her signature brand of dippy mischief to updating the task of updating the Ten Commandments, presented on an updated Apple tablet of course. As Big Bang‘s Jim Parsons and Will and Grace’s Sean Hayes did before her, the heteronormative foundation stones of Western organized religion came crumbling in the permeating glow of her wry quips and innate sense of camp. In other words, “Yass queen” to this gay-friendly God.
Pairing the greatest philosophical questions that have faced humanity with kitschy magic tricks and intentionally on the nose jokes followed by a knowing drum sting makes for an entertaining watch. Tom Bowen’s dashing good looks and endearing sincerity as Archangel Gabriel makes the perfect contrast to Matt Tedford’s (best known for his Margaret Thatcher) bumbling Archangel Michael who can’t help but voice his creeping doubts. This dysfunctional trio take a very liberal approach to dismantling the foundations of Occidental morality. An evening of silly seraphic fun-poking, this is one show that is the perfect winter warmer. With a month of nephews’ nativity plays ahead of you, gain some much-needed perspective at An Act of God.
An Act of God is playing at The Vaults Theatre, Waterloo SE1 7NN ‘til 12th January. QXTickets.com
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