"Todd and God" is a quirky
comic satire about man and God (who is a woman)
"Todd and God."
Written by Richard Marsh; directed by Dan Coleman.
Pleasance Dome at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/todd-god#overview
August 2017
|
Richard
Marsh as Todd touches the finger
of
God, according to Michelangelo.
Photo by David Monteith-Hodge. |
Richard Marsh's witty offbeat rhyming verse tells of a copy
writer chosen by God to save the world. It is very smart and very
funny. And full of fantasy, including these "production"
photos, of scenes not actually in the play.
Todd (Marsh) is a mild-mannered fellow in his 20s, in jeans and
black-rimmed glasses, a copywriter for alumni magazines. He is in
a difficult relationship with Helen (the voice of Marsh), his superior
wife, a pediatric surgeon. Todd and Helen are atheists, though Helen
seems more insistent about it. One day Todd is approached by God
(Sara Hirsch), who explains, "God is a woman. I make life and
I take it."
As proof of her power, he demands a bacon sandwich delivered by
an owl, and gets it. (The owl has something to do with Harry
Potter.) He is impressed. God quickly advises him to ditch segueing
into such traditional ideas as heaven and hell: "Actually,
they're both made up. Most of that stuff, and Original Sin was invented
by St Augustine. It's basically Biblical fan fiction."
 |
Richard
Marsh as Todd is in the hand of
God. Photo by David Monteith-Hodge. |
He starts questioning her, "Why all the evil?" "Free
will." But God adds, "Here's the thing –
every time I've done religion so far, it's gone a bit
wrong….Beat me then and beats me still. How you make war from
‘thou shalt not kill'. I almost regret giving out free
will."
Now Todd wants to start a religion. He has altered his LinkedIn
profile to ‘Messiah.' Helen worries he will become neurotic
like her father, a "sweary vicar (also played by Marsh),"
whose religion pushed out his wife. Todd's response to a heckle:
"It's not a cult, it's a boutique religion."
But Helen leaves him. God says, "It's hard, dating a
messiah. That's why Jesus stayed single."
At one point, when Todd tries to contact God, he gets a response:
"I'm afraid I can't take your prayer right now.
Leave a message after the angels." (Sings heavenly choral
notes) Then, "I'm just messing with you! I'm always
here. I am always here." My favorite line is God singing "Kumbaya,
me, Kumbaya." "Kumbaya, Lord," get it?
Todd goes to the zoo and announces, "I am the Chosen One, the
leader of Fools. Religion 2.0." He climbs into the lions' den.
[Biblical, right?] The lions lick him. God declares: "Be strong,
my son, you have God in your bones. And half the world is up there
with their phones. You're not here to take your life – You're
here to win back your wife." Surviving the lions puts him on
TV. He faints and ends up at Helen's hospital. She will tell him,
"You're the first person ever got famous by being inedible."
Todd will find himself. You'll have to see the rest of the show
to find out what happens. But that is a mitzvah. (And I've left
out some of the best parts all the way through. This is just an
amuse bouche.) Marsh in fact is an atheist, whose grandfather was
a preacher. Hirsch is an atheist Jew. Their take on God is rather
affectionate if not traditional. She is actually a pretty nice deity.
And suppose you wanted to change the world, what would you do? No
answers here, but the messianic impulse is subtly quaffed. No matter,
you will appreciate the very fine actors, Marsh and Hirsch, Coleman's
tongue-in-cheek direction, and the play's sublime wit.
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