<HTML><HEAD></HEAD>
<BODY dir=ltr>
<DIV dir=ltr>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000">
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" align=center><FONT face=Georgia><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ">Beck Center’s
amusing ‘An Act of God’ a bit of an A</SPAN></B><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 0%; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fcfcfc">donai-ance </FONT></SPAN></B></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-outline-level: 2"
align=center><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT color=#353636
face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN></B> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt"
align=center><SPAN
style="BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: ; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in"><FONT
face=Georgia>Bob Abelman</FONT></SPAN><SPAN style="COLOR: "></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt"
align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: ; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in"><FONT
face=Georgia>Cleveland Jewish News, The News Herald, The Morning
Journal</FONT></SPAN></I><SPAN style="COLOR: "></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt"
align=center><SPAN
style="BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: ; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in"><FONT
face=Georgia>Member, American Theatre Critics Association</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style="COLOR: "></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="COLOR: "><FONT
face="Times New Roman"></FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"></SPAN> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "><FONT
face=Georgia><FONT color=#111111>God does indeed move in mysterious ways.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "><FONT
color=#111111 face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "><FONT
face=Georgia><FONT color=#111111>Take “An Act of God,” the play the Beck Center
for the Arts selected as its 85<SUP>th</SUP> season opener.
</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "><FONT
color=#111111 face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=Georgia><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "><FONT color=#111111>In it, God takes human form
in order to explain a new set of commandments that better reflect His original
intentions, His coming to terms with “wrath-management issues,” and His
</FONT></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ">liberal position regarding
fornication, child-rearing and the bearing of arms.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT
face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT
face=Georgia>The play’s political leanings come as no surprise considering that
its creator<SPAN style="COLOR: "><FONT color=#111111> is David Javerbaum, the
</FONT></SPAN>13-time Emmy-winning former head writer and executive producer of
Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.” <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT
face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT
face=Georgia>Nor is it a surprise that, like the show, “An Act of God” is
sarcastic <SPAN style="COLOR: "><FONT color=#111111>(“I’m not blessing you
anymore, so stop asking.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Tell your
money to trust in someone else”)</FONT></SPAN>, deceptively smart (<SPAN
style="COLOR: "><FONT color=#111111>Noah’s ark is casually referred to as “a
phylogenetically complete nautical double bestiary”) </FONT></SPAN>and extremely
funny. </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT
face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT
face=Georgia>But the play is little <SPAN style="COLOR: "><FONT
color=#111111>more than a 90-minute stand-up comedy routine, with an impish,
self-critical God delivering a steady stream of direct-address one-liners
accented by percussive rims-shots, some sacrilege (less than Trey Parker’s “Book
of Mormon” but more than Anat Gov’s “Oh, God”) and a whiff of sober
intent.</FONT></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "><FONT
color=#111111 face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=Georgia><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "><FONT color=#111111>Good thing God is being
played by local stand-up comedian Mike Polk Jr.’s, whose affable personality and
well-honed comic timing allow him and director </FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ">William Rodebush<SPAN style="COLOR: "><FONT color=#111111>
to find an up-tempo rhythm and much needed fluidity in a script without a
dramatic arc. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT
face=Georgia><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: ; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in">For
more of this article, go to </SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "><FONT
color=#0000ff>www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/bob_abelman/</FONT></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>