...in a new London comedy play

Zoe Lyons is to play the human embodiment of the Almighty in a sacrilegious new comedy play coming to London this winter.

She takes the lead role in Act Of God following in the footsteps of US sitcom stars Jim Parsons from The Big Bang Theory and Sean Hayes, from Will and Grace, who starred in previous Broadway productions of the satire.

It was created by former Daily Show scribe David Javerbaum, based on his Twitter account @TheTweetOfGod, which has more than 6million followers, and his subsequent book The Last Testament: A Memoir By God.

The premise is that God has, for the second time in history, adopted a human form to visit his creation. But now he has grown tired of the Ten Commandments – ‘in exactly the same way that Don McLean has grown weary of American Pie’ – and has come up with some more.

Matt Tedford, best known for his cabaret alter-ego Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho, and Tom Bowen, who recently appeared in the Dirty Dancing UK tour, will play angels Michael and Gabriel respectively. 

This production, which runs at the Vaults complex under Waterloo station for seven weeks from November 27, is the UK premiere of the show.

It first played on Broadway in 2015 with Parsons in the lead role, and returned  the following year with Hayes. 

Charles Isherwood, reviewing the second production in The New York Times, called the play ‘a gut-busting-funny riff’ and ‘ an hour and a half of comedy heaven’. But the TheaterMania website said it was ‘just mildly amusing’.

This version is directed by Benji Sperring, who oversaw the Night of the Living Dead Live show at the Pleasance in Islington earlier this year.

Published: 30 Aug 2019