“Nothing Can Take You from the Hand of God”: what is true when everyone has their own opinion of events?

11/07/2025

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This photo captures a woman seated on a chair against a stark black background, suggesting a stage or interview setting. She is looking directly at the camera with an engaging expression while holding a microphone in one hand and a small piece of paper in the other, suggesting she is speaking or giving a presentation. She has short, curly auburn hair and is wearing large, distinctive, square-rimmed tortoiseshell glasses. Her attire is a casual-yet-polished mix: a dark pinstripe blazer over a denim shirt and blue jeans. To her right, a small wooden table holds a glass of water and a book titled "NEVER THE TWAIN SHALL MEET." To her left, part of a camera on a tripod is visible. — "Nothing Can Take You from the Hand of God" (Photos by Maria Baranova)

This theatrical photograph presents a dramatic, multi-exposure image featuring the same performer repeated three times, all seated on folding chairs and wearing identical denim shirts, jeans, and white sneakers. The figures are closely spaced and centered, creating a triplicate effect that suggests multiple identities or an internal dialogue. The background is a deep black, while the foreground and figures are bathed in intense blue light which creates a moody and dynamic atmosphere. Furthermore, a blurred, larger image of the woman's face is subtly projected onto the background, enhancing the sense of motion, fragmentation, and psychological depth within the performance. — “Nothing Can Take You from the Hand of God” (Photos by Maria Baranova)

Playwrights Jen Tullock and Frank Winters began working on Nothing Can Take You from the Hand of God during the height of COVID. Starting with the idea for a screenplay inspired by Tullock’s upbringing in an evangelical church, they eventually decided to reshape the work into a one-woman play. It is this play that Playwrights Horizons is now presenting, and it is an intentionally unsettling experience.

Tullock portrays Frances, the author of a highly successful book about her own coming of age as a queer woman after leaving her insular small town. She has written a second book about her life in the town and church in which she was brought up. But since the book involves several people still living in town, including Frances’ mother and brother and a Polish female missionary who Frances claims was her first female lover, the publisher is trying to get releases from them before the book comes out. They have refused, some threatening lawsuits if the book is printed as is. Frances is sent back home to get the releases, hoping to preserve her story the way she remembers it.

But Frances’ family remembers the events she portrays in her book quite differently. The Polish missionary does not see their relationship as that of lovers or romantic. She wants to protect her own son, a youngster at the time, and her reputation in the church from the implications of Frances’ story. The mother also wants to preserve her reputation, refusing to believe Frances’ accounts of being sexually abused by the local pastor and being physically abused by her. Frances’ brother, who is also gay, cannot see himself ever leaving the community, nor can he live there as an openly gay man. He feels trapped and cannot see a way out, with Frances’ story only deepening his despair while allowing the community to start questioning him.

This theatrical wide shot features a performer seated in a chair on a dark stage, strongly illuminated by a single overhead spotlight that creates a dramatic circular pool of light around the figure and the small table next to them. The performer is wearing a dark jacket, and is positioned between a small wooden side table with a glass and a simple folding chair. Most notably, the title of the play, "NOTHING CAN TAKE YOU FROM THE HAND OF GOD," is boldly projected in large, white, sans-serif font across the black backdrop behind the actor, dominating the upper half of the frame and establishing a powerful and thematic context for the solo performance. — “Nothing Can Take You from the Hand of God” (Photos by Maria Baranova)

The play wrestles with the effects on memories of time and expectations. No matter how clear an event may be in the moment, every participant and every viewer comes away with their own version of it. Frances starts off solidly convinced of a life filled with abuse – physical, mental, and at times sexual – from the authority figures of church and family and the group-think of the town. The acclaim that came from her first book encouraged her to write about her early life, true, but she also got canonized as a queer heroine, and now feels the pressure to maintain that image. Therefore, Frances’ story as she tells it has to be the one true version, and now it cannot be nuanced by how her words and actions affected those she left behind.

Jared Mezzocchi has directed Jen Tullock through this one-woman tour de force, utilizing flashing lights and projected videos purporting to come from the video cameras set on stage. However, playwrights Tullock and Winters have done actor Tullock a disservice in splitting her concentration on the different parts she has to play. The result is that after a while everyone tends to blend into everyone else, and the play suffers for it. Actor Tullock would have been much more powerful if she concentrated on playing Frances; if other actors were allowed to take on the remaining characters, it would have resulted in a stronger expression of their motivations and positions.

This image captures a full-stage theatrical scene with a solo performer standing center, looking upwards with a pensive expression, suggesting a moment of reflection or address. The performer, dressed in a casual, monochromatic denim outfit (shirt and jeans), is brightly illuminated by two overhead spotlights. The stage features a minimalist set: a small wooden side table, a dark cloth draped over a chair, and a simple folding chair. Most striking is the large, black cyclorama backdrop onto which multiple live video feeds or pre-recorded clips of the performer are projected, creating a visual montage of the actor in a seemingly less formal setting. This use of video alongside the live action creates a dynamic, multimedia staging that suggests themes of self-observation, memory, or fragmented identity. — “Nothing Can Take You from the Hand of God” (Photos by Maria Baranova)

Nothing Can Take You from the Hand of God is bold enough to take up the theme of individual truths based on memory. Playwrights Horizons is to be commended for presenting this play. I would like to see Tullock and Winters revise and expand this play, and will be interested in what their next collaboration will produce. It is with some reservation that I suggest seeing Nothing Can Take You from the Hand of God.

Nothing Can Take You from the Hand of God is presented in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Playwrights Horizons, 416 West 42nd Street, New York through Nov. 16, 2025. For more information, or to purchase tickets, go to playwrightshorizons.org.