‘Hand to God’ to Bring Its Sock Puppet Act to Broadway

The critically acclaimed play “Hand to God,” a dark comedy about a demonic sock puppet that wreaks havoc on relationships and faith in a small Texas town, will open on Broadway at the Booth Theater in April, the producer Kevin McCollum announced on Tuesday. The play, by Robert Askins, was performed at New York’s Ensemble Studio Theater in 2011 and then at MCC Theater last spring. The Broadway production will feature the cast from the most recent run, led by Steven Boyer in the role of a shy young man, Jason, battling with the sock puppet, Tyrone, that is fixed to his hand. “Hand to God” will begin preview performances on March 12 and open on April 7. The director is Moritz von Stuelpnagel; Mr. McCollum is a Tony Award-winning producer of the musicals “Rent,” “Avenue Q” and “In the Heights.”

“Hand to God” is a relatively unusual entry in the current Broadway theater season and the race for the 2015 Tony for best play, which thus far is dominated by new plays from Britain (“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” “The River,” “Constellations,” “The Audience” and “Wolf Hall: Parts 1 & 2”). The press release announcing “Hand to God” on Tuesday went so far as to note twice that it was a “new American play,” a point that will surely be made to Tony voters and audience members next spring. “Hand to God” is also a commercial production, which, for plays, often feature star actors or have earned major prizes (like the new play “Disgraced,” which won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize). But the show does have strong reviews from its earlier run and an Obie Award-winning performance by Mr. Boyer.

A spokesman for “Hand to God” said that the play’s capitalization would be just over $3 million and that there would be changes for Broadway, both in the script and the physical production, just as there were between the Ensemble Studio and MCC Theater runs.