LORD HAVE MERCY!

Roustabouts Theatre’s irreverent comedy lets
Samantha Ginn unleash a hilariously blunt deity

Samantha Ginn

Playwright David Javerbaum pulls no punches in this hysterical, irreverent look at the heavenly father (now a mother) and her two angel sidekicks. The play borders on blasphemous, and if this would bother you, move right along because this show will not be for you. If that sentence didn’t scare you off, come prepared for some great laughs as we get the backstory on everything from Adam & Eve, Noah, Moses, Jesus, and more—straight from the old gal herself. And she ain’t holding back, including more than a handful of raunchy puns.

Samantha Ginn

Having just seen it, it’s almost hard to imagine anyone but the incorrigible, hyperenergetic Samantha Ginn playing the lead role. She is perfectly cast and brings so much to the role with her blend of Gilda Radner abandon and Catherine O’Hara–like bite, as well as many traits that are pure Ginn. She’s also praiseworthy for conquering the memorization of this extremely fast-paced, 100-minute-with-no-intermission script—especially when about 90% of the lines are hers.

AJ Knox, Samantha Ginn, Devyn Wade

At her sides, leaping at her command whether they want to be or not, are her two main angels, Michael (Devin Wade) and Gabriel (AJ Knox). While their love and respect for God is clear, it’s also more than tinged with some fear around her erratic and sometimes self-absorbed behavior—as when she doesn’t realize for a while that a divine gesture by her is causing Gabriel to have his air cut off. Knox yields laughs as Gabriel strives never to raise any wrath from God, while it is Michael who primarily pays the price for her instant reactiveness to anything other than the pair completely kowtowing to her. With physical adeptness, Wade pulls this off beautifully, especially when questioning her choices—at one point, she flings Michael like a marionette, manipulating the angel’s body into disco dance movements that can’t be stopped. It’s a bizarre form of near-sadistic punishment for her ally, and it is striking to watch Wade abandon control.

Devyn Wade

The fourth wall is fully broken in this show, as all three talk to the audience like we’re attending a heavenly seminar on the history of time. One of the key plot points is that, while God thinks the Ten Commandments worked great for their time, it’s time for ten new ones. This gives the middle of the show its structure as God reviews the new list from top to bottom, further increasing tension with Michael when he dares to ask questions.

Samantha Ginn

While Ginn herself is delightful, the lines don’t necessarily lead to our loving everything about this God, who can be fallible, jealous, egoistic, gossipy, and occasionally regretful. Javerbaum’s script gives her so much to delve into and some tremendously funny lines. A favorite was:

“My favorite word in the English language is ‘Amen’ because when I hear it I know you’re finally done asking Me for stupid shit.”

AJ Knox, Devyn Wade

And if you’ve ever wrestled with how a benevolent God could have allowed the Holocaust to happen, you’re not going to believe the reason until you see this show; it’s so outlandish that it defies being offensive. Likewise for the Irish Potato Famine.

This show is such a perfect fit for director Phil Johnson that I had to double-check my program afterward to be assured that it wasn’t his writing. The pace, the energy, the facial and body choices, the comedic timing—it’s all pure Johnson and works exquisitely.

AJ Knox

Enter knowing it’s 100 minutes with no intermission, but rest assured that it flies by and that an intermission would have been a very wrong choice for this show.

It won’t take an act of God to see this show get extended, if possible—just word of mouth about how good Roustabout’s production is and how great Ginn is as the uncomfortably direct Mother of all that is.

Devyn Wade, AJ Knox

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photos by Michael Pearce Photography

An Act of God
The Roustabouts Theatre Co.
Scripps Ranch Theatre, 9783 Avenue of Nations in San Diego
Fr & Sat at 7:30; Sun at 2
ends on March 29, 2026
for tickets ($35–$45), call 619.728.7820 or visit The Roustabouts

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