Em Modaff, Alex Weisman, and Michael Turrentine Photo by Liz Lauren

Under Keira Fromm's direction and on a lovely Jeffrey D. Kmiec/Milo Bue set with lighting by Brandon Wardell, the premise here is that the Almighty has decided to grace us with his presence in order to set a few things straight. No pun is intended in the phrasing of the last sentence, though one of the very first misconceptions that Weisman's God corrects is the silly notion that God hates gays. Indeed, this version of God seems to love them. He creates Adam and Steve first (so they could not breed and would therefore have more time to attend to their gardening). He describes Steve as the perfect companion for Adam: "a hunk, unburdened by excess wisdom; ripped, and cut, and hung like unto a fig tree before the harvest."

Of course, the men he has created disobey him, and he transforms Steve into Eve, which he considers the "harshest punishment possible: transforming them from carefree young lovers living in the heart of everything to a married couple with kids stuck in the suburbs." The gay thing is incidental; he notes that everyone is "equally smiteable in My eyes."

Mostly, God wishes to give humankind a new Ten Commandments, and these are gradually revealed throughout the show with help from Gabriel (Em Modaff) and Michael (Michael Turrentine). (The former mans–angels?–a podium on which is a reference copy of the Bible, and the latter wanders the audience, talk show-like, soliciting various questions from the audience–and occasionally from himself.)

Modaff and Turrentine do admirable work here, but this show belongs to Weisman and playwright Javerbaum. Together, they take us on a condensed journey through highlights of the Bible, using various stories, like Job, to update the Commandments. But the chief goal of all of this is to have God examine and even question his own motivations, echoing quandaries that humanists have lingered on for ages. At various times, using his Biblical actions (the flood, stories like Lot or Abraham and Isaac, etc.) as justification, he acknowledges that "there is something seriously wrong with me," or more harshly "I am an asshole," and even calls himself mankind's worst creation. ("I am a jealous, petty, sexist, racist, mass-murdering narcissist.")

All of this is conveyed through a show that is sometimes hilarious, sometimes thoughtful, sometimes very serious, and pretty much always deeply satirical. Like the audience, the angels slowly begin to understand that behind the "mysterious ways" in which he works–which he frames as yet another lame human explanation for things that make no real sense–lies a being who is essentially a child: he throws tantrums, acts capriciously, contradicts himself, hurts others, etc., because, being alone at the top of the celestial hierarchy, there is no one to tell him anything different.

Which is why he feels compelled to do it himself and why it's worth a trip to Aurora to see this 80-minute show.

An Act of God runs through November 10, 2024, at Copley Theatre, across the street from Paramount Theatre, 23 East Galena Blvd, Aurora IL. For tickets and information, please visit paramountaurora.com