NOTHING CAN TAKE YOU FROM JEN TULLOCK’S PERFORMANCE

We’ve all seen the headline flash on TV:  — New Book Tells All About Author’s Escape from Restrictive Religious Upbringing. It’ss a story that gets covered countless times, no matter what religion or community is involved. People love a tale of empowerment and escape from oppression. Throw in a coming-out-of-the-closet angle, and boom — instant bestseller, right?

But what’s behind that story? Sure, some people will read the book, but most will just catch a brief clip from a cable news interview, while scrolling the internet, or passing through an airport. Opening last night at Playwrights Horizons, Nothing Can Take You from the Hand of God shows us what carrying the memory of such an escape feels like — fractured and intense though it may be.

Meet Frances Reinhardt, the hero of the “escape” story in this solo cri de theatre. Frances’s highly anticipated book release has hit a small snag: someone from her past has an issue with how they’re portrayed. While reckoning with the harm she experienced –and may be causing to those she’s written about — Frances must reconcile both her past treatment and her treatment of others in order to move forward.

Jen Tullock from Severance does double duty as both solo performer and co-playwright (with Frank Winters), delivering a powerful, full-range performance as Frances and everyone else we meet on this journey to reclaim her narrative. She seamlessly slips, switches, and explodes between characters. Through fragmented memories and scenes, we meet Frances’s anxious but hardworking publicist, her family (a mother and brother), a Polish immigrant, and more.

The closeness of the material to the performer — Tullock herself is gay and was raised in an Evangelical household — anchors the storytelling in tangible reality. She knows these people (or people just like them) intimately. Her inhabitation of multiple characters is an expertly realized and crafted performance. Where many one-person shows test our patience (especially those with multiple roles), Nothing Can Take You from the Hand of God remains engaging throughout its brisk 70-minute runtime.

Transparency is a key theme here’Frances has bared much of her personal life in her book, yet still seeks to clarify her intentions after publication. Emmie Finckel‘s set is sparse, containing only the bare necessities: a table, two chairs, and a few cameras on lightweight tripods. The minimalist set delights the eyes without distracting from the story. A few transparent scrims hang in the fore- and background, catching light and projections from onstage cameras.

A contentious addition to Broadway and Off-Broadway, screens and video often distract from stage storytelling. Not so here. It’s a pleasure to report that Hand of God uses live video feeds to wonderfully restrained effect. Director Jared Mezzocchi keeps both the cameras and the audience focused squarely on Tullock, a blessing for a staging style that could easily spiral out of control. Video, such as a CNN-style chyron during Frances’s TV interview, mirror her most introspective moments and offer striking close-ups that enlarge otherwise intimate beats. The splintered, vignette-style presentation is enhanced by Stefania Bulbarella‘s video design, Amith Chandrashaker‘s lighting, and Evdoxia Ragkou‘s sound — a palette of video static, eerie ambience, and prerecorded dialogue from other characters, all voiced by Tullock.

Nothing Can Take You from the Hand of God moves swiftly, presenting a fractaled view into the mind of someone who has reinvented and clarified herself time and again. Its tasteful use of video magnifies the standout performance from Tullock. You may not rush to buy the next “escape” memoir you see advertised, but after Hand of God, you’ll better understand the process its author likely endured.

photos by Maria Baranova

Nothing Can Take You from the Hand of God
ends on November 9, 2025 EXTENDED to November 16, 2025
for tickets ($54-$94), visit Playwrights Horizons