“An Act of God”

**** The “Bold Series” is what we have in Aurora’s Copley Theatre”, a part of Paramount Theatre in Aurora. Those of us who have witnessed the works in this series have seen a combination of one acts, musicals, comedies and dramas, presented in an intimate space across the street of the main venue. The current production is “An Act of God” which is sort of a one-God show that is God, himself ( or does God have a gender) giving us  insight into how it all came to be. This role is played to perfection by Alex Weisman, who we watched grow as an actor here in Chicago ( winner of two Jeff Awards, which he brings up, twice) and is always a pleasure to watch onstage.

While it is  predominately a one person show, he is accompanied by two angels, Michael ( Michael Turrentine) and Gabriel ( a delightful Em Modaff) to assist in this 80 minute story ( no intermission), that is in many ways a comedy act, a lecture and/or a religious experience. I suppose every audience member will find their own interpretation. Weisman speaks to us as if he has done almost everything to perfection and that we, somehow, have dropped the ball. Smoothly directed by Keira Fromm with some clever choreography by Jenna Scholle, the stage is fairly simple. There is a round couch onstage where a great deal of action takes place (Milo Bue and Jeffre D. Kmiec) and the tech parts ( lighting :Brandon Wardell and sound :Christopher Kriz, who also composed the original music) as well as the projections (Anthony Churchill) and props ( Ivy Thomas) add to the story. Mieka van der Ploeg’s costumes are not exactly “heavenly” but quite creative.

This show, written by David Javerbaum, takes us on a ride where we learn about creation, with some new ideas that have never been part of the equation before. Let’s face it, Adam and Steve may not have been a perfect match. Hmmm- perhaps the Garden of Eden was not paradise after all. We learn about the Lord taking “liberties with the truth” in lieu of lying to us and we learn that perhaps Noah did not truly have two of “every” animal on his ark. We learn that Jesus Christ was the middle child of three that were directly related to God and the one trick that I caught was that during the Last Supper/Seder, Jesus was passing around the wine and bread- Bread should have been Matzah.

While both Turrentine and Modaff were terrific ensemble members, this particular show is truly Weisman, and he is definitely in his glory, playing to the audience and loving every minute of it. Right now, as we approach the Day Of Atonement a/k/a Yom Kippur, the Jewish population is thinking of the forgiveness that each seeks from God at this time. Part of the fasting process and the rituals of the Holy Days may come to mind when seeing this play, but it is definitely a comedy, but one that may also give you just a little insight to religion and the book that many of us believe is the most important volume in history.

“An Act of God” will continue Thru – Nov 10th with performances as follows: