PRESS
“No single modifier would be sufficient to describe Riley O’Toole’s portrayal of Jason and his animation of Tyrone. Let’s start with fearless and technically skilled. O’Toole gives character (meek and whispery) and puppet (gravelly and direct) different voices, and the actor mastered the art of convincingly conversing with himself.
But that’s only the beginning. The differentiation between Tyrone and Jason is eerily, almost frighteningly complete: When Tyrone cackles a demonic laugh, it chills the spine. It’s bawdy and funny, yes … the aforementioned puppet sex (executed in cooperation with the dust-dry C. Michael Menge and a female sock-puppet) is a did-they-really-go-there howler. But it’s also a harrowing portrait of a psyche split in two.”
- Dominic P. Papatola | Pioneer Press
“Jungle Theater's 'Hand to God' is the funniest show in town. I can’t remember when I’ve been in a theater of people laughing as hard as they were at Jungle Theater’s ‘Hand to God.’ Robert Askins’ outrageous comedy won’t be everyone’s cup of kombucha — it’s profane, bawdy and extremely skeptical of organized religion — but, if you’re in, it’s a swell reminder of what a pleasure it is to be part of a room full of people who are losing it.
Jason has an outlet of sorts: his foul-mouthed, randy id of a puppet, Tyrone, who seems to have a mind of his own. Both are played by Riley O’Toole, which makes it sound like the actor is giving two performances, but it’s actually more like three. In addition to sweet, confused Jason and hell-on-wheels Tyrone, O’Toole beautifully captures a third piece, the middle ground where boy and puppet react to each other. Jason’s horror and Tyrone’s disdain are so vivid that when another character demands to know whether an evil act was done by Jason or Tyrone, it actually makes sense for a minute. You forget that they’re one and the same.
Actor Riley O’Toole is fantastic as both Jason, a teenager grieving his late father, and Tyrone, the profane and randy puppet that is attached to Jason’s hand but that he cannot seem to control. Directed by Christina Baldwin and also featuring Tracey Maloney and Eric Sharp, “Hand to God” is the funniest, most outrageous show in town.
- Chris Hewitt | Star Tribune
“As sweet Jason and evil Tyrone, Riley O'Toole gives a genius performance unlike anything I've seen before. I'd like to nominate him for a TCTB Award, but I'm not sure what category - comedic? Dramatic? A special category for "with puppet?" Riley's performance broke my heart, made me laugh, and shocked me, sometimes all in the same breath.
There are so many things going on in his performance (it probably helps that he's played this role before); he's controlling the boy Jason's physicality and facial expressions, the devil puppet Tyrone's movements of body, face, and limbs, and he's also doing both voices, several times having a two-way conversation alone onstage and doing it so well that Tyrone often feels like a separate living breathing thing. I can't imagine how many hours of practice go into making it look as natural and effortless as Riley does.
Artistic Director Sarah Rasmussen notes in the playbill that ‘Riley O'Toole was born to play this role.’ I don't know about that; he's young, I think we'll discover many roles that he was born to play in the future. But this play does not work if the audience doesn't empathize with the sad, scared, lonely little boy behind the angry puppet, and thanks to Riley's performance, we do, and it does.”
- Jill Schafer | Broadway World
“Move Over ‘Avenue Q’ – ‘Hand to God’ at the Jungle is the Real Puppet Masterpiece. Riley O’Toole gives a staggering performance as Jason, a Texas teen engulfed in grief over the death of his father. People are contradictory. O’Toole understand[s] this.”
- John Townsend | LAVENDER Magazine, Arts & Culture
“Hand to God’ at the Jungle is hilarious and profane; Riley O’Toole plays both Jason and Tyrone, shifting characters and voices with awe-inspiring mastery. Tyrone is a stick puppet. As O’Toole moves the mouth, head and body with his left hand, he manipulates the arms with his right. It all looks incredibly hard, and it happens with lightning speed. One moment O’Toole is soft-spoken, mild-mannered Jason, and the next he’s foul-mouthed, terrifying Tyrone. You forget that O’Toole’s lips are moving while Tyrone is talking. The scraggly yellow puppet takes on a life of its own.”
- Pamela Espeland | MINNPOST
“Riley O'Toole plays the challenging dual role of Jason and Tyrone, and it is a brilliant performance. The actor is persuasive as an introverted boy in his middle teens, dealing with the pain of losing a parent on top of the angst that goes hand in hand with his age bracket, and then whips into Tyrone's vulgar, unforgiving rants, to the degree that one could believe another actor is giving voice to the puppet.”
- Arthur Dorman | Talkin’ Broadway
“Hand to God is yet another reason to applaud (take the sock off your hand first) artistic director Sarah Rasmussen’s knack for corralling superb recent scripts and matching them with top local talent. In this case, director Christina Baldwin embraces Askins’ snappy pace and snarling tone, with an ace cast led by the remarkable O’Toole.”
- Jay Gabler | CITY PAGES, Arts & Leisure
“O’Toole is phenomenal as both Jason (the teenage son) and Tyrone (Jason’s sinister puppet). His mannerisms, sad fanny pack, and hopeless stares will put you right back into the swirling vortex of adolescent emotions. When Tyrone suddenly comes to life, the play leaves it ambivalent whether this is just Timothy's unconscious way of dealing with trauma, or whether the puppet is actually the Devil. O'Toole's puppetry and ventriloquism with Tyrone are so excellent that I almost found myself forgetting that Tyrone was a puppet at all!”
- Erin McNeil | Minnesota Playlist
“And of course this show wouldn’t work at all without a great actor playing Jason, and his evil alter ego Tyrone. Riley O’Toole is frighteningly good at both roles. (I’ve seen O’Toole in impressive shows before, including The Whipping Man at Minnesota Jewish Theater, and Lion In Winter at the Guthrie, but I don’t think I fully appreciated the range of his talent until I saw Hand To God last night.) O’Toole has played this role before and it shows. His skill is not just in operating Tyrone the puppet, but in so fully submerging himself in Tyrone’s persona that the puppet seems like a whole other actor onstage.
Jason and Tyrone spend a lot of time conversing (and fighting) together, and in the hands of a lesser actor that could quickly get boring or confusing. Both Jason and Tyrone are distinct characters in conflict with one another. It’s a thrilling (and more than a little creepy) performance to watch. But always funny. And even a little sad. There are many moments throughout the evening when it looks like Tyrone is operating Jason, rather than the other way around. O’Toole is so on top of every moment in this production that when an audience member sneezed at one point, Tyrone the puppet said “Gesundheit,” and then Jason and Tyrone returned to their conversation (after the audience was done laughing and applauding, of course).”
- Matthew Everett | Single White Fringe Geek
“The star of the show is Riley O'Toole who plays Jason and the puppet Tyrone. O'Toole comedic timing and abilities resembles a young Robin Williams and that is truly one of the highest compliments I think I can give. He perfectly is able to separate both characters from each other with distinct voices and never dropping energy while controlling Tyrone. I can't imagine how tiring the role is as an actor but O'Toole knocked my socks off (there I go again with that analogy but it's so true). At times he is basically in a two person scene however playing both roles as he controls Tyrone. Calling O'Toole a genius still feels like not enough because I was so blown away with his ability to bring a tear to our eyes as a depressed and struggling kid but also make my face hurt from laughing so hard.”
- Brett Burger | Brett Talk
“Perhaps my favorite Jungle production of the year was the outrageous, irreverent, and sweetly sad Hand to God, with a performance by Riley O’Toole as lost boy and foul puppet that was unmatched in #TCTheater this year.”
- Jill Schafer | Cherry & Spoon
“Hand to God opened at the Jungle Theater this weekend, and I can’t remember the last time I laughed so much. I’m beyond impressed with O’Toole’s coordination and skill with playing two characters at the same time, including expertly controlling Tyrone’s movements in conjunction with his own.”
- Laura VanZandt | One Girl, Two Cities
“I have to tread carefully here, so as not to give away too much of the play. In fact, I think I’ve said enough. Know that O’Toole/Tyrone are beyond brilliant and if you require a reason to see the play, well, here you are.”
- John Olive | HowWasTheShow?
“Riley O'Toole's remarkable performance anchors a well-matched cast....The performances are all fine, but O'Toole's double-duty portrayal of Jason and Tyrone is amazing. His left arm assumes a life of its own, and we increasingly lose sight of the fact that one actor is playing both characters.”
- Barbara M. Bannon | Salt Lake Tribune
“The most exhilarating acting performance on a Utah stage this year belongs to Riley O'Toole, who technically plays two characters in Salt Lake Acting Co.'s production of Robert Askins' Hand to God. if you can stomach the swipes at faith, you're in for a hilariously bizarre ride, anchored by O'Toole's deft physical performance.”
- Scott Renshaw and Missy Bird | Salt Lake City Weekly
“In the many frantic exchanges delivered by Riley O’Toole, whose job required him to switch continuously from portraying the character of Jason to voicing and animating his puppet Tyrone, Askins appears to have embedded an early opportunity for O’Toole to showcase his puppetry aplomb. Delivering a segment of the Abbott and Costello classic ‘Who’s on First’ at breakneck speed, O’Toole quickly establishes an important aspect of this production: that he is able to be both Jason and Tyrone simultaneously and that the audience should accept each independently. I was most impressed in the moments when O’Toole had to respond with the facial expressions and natural reactions of Jason while voicing Tyrone’s angry outbursts. To play either character convincingly seems a feat; to play both simultaneously showcases O’Toole as a master of his craft.
... However, it wasn’t the message of the piece that stuck with me through the drive home and through my evening conversations; I just want O’Toole and Tyrone to finish ‘Who’s on First.’”
- Andrea Fife | Utah Theater Bloggers
“O’Toole as Jason is intense and vulnerable all in the same performance. By the end, he has at last crossed a boundary that we hope he never has to breach again. The role of Jason/Tyrone is a gem for any young actor, and in the hands of O’Toole, it’s a tour-de-force. I doubt I will ever see another actor handle both sides of a personality with such deftness and clear separation. If this young man is not to become a force to reckon with in the acting world, I’ve missed my guess by a mile. He gives us the one performance this year Salt Lake audiences should not miss.”
- Joel Applegate | Front Row Reviewers Utah
“'Promised land' takes on new meaning in tale of Jewish slave owner. The play opens in a thunderstorm as Confederate soldier Caleb DeLeon (Riley O’Toole) staggers home, wounded and delirious, at the end of the Civil War. O’Toole teeters between arrogance and tears as Caleb is forced to examine the ugly reality behind his illusions of a romantic South.”
- Lisa Brock | Star Tribune
“As Caleb, Riley O'Toole creates the very portrait of a man deluded into believing that his emotions are pure and his intentions are good, raised in denial of the malice he perpetuates. Yet, his panic and fear are visceral, especially when his leg is about to be cut off, and he realizes he has no control over his pain or his future.”
- Arthur Dornan | Talkin’ Broadway
“Riley O’Toole humorously plays the pathetic and constantly outplayed teenage John.”
- Bev Wolfe | Twin Cities Arts Reader
“Riley O'Toole, the only non-Equity member of the cast, plays Henry's favorite and the baby of the family, John, without putting a pretty face on his whining ways.”
- Karen Bovard | Broadway World
“Their three sons are played by U of M/Guthrie BFA alums (aka the Guthrie farm team) Torsten Johnson, Michael Hanna, and Riley O'Toole, each one of them a delight to watch.”
- Jill Schafer | Cherry & Spoon
“The children are equally well performed. As the youngest son John, Riley O'Toole perfectly captures the whiny, selfish, thoughtless aura of a spoiled child.”
- Becki Iverson | Compendium MPLS
“Torsten Johnson, Michael Hanna and Riley O’Toole could not have been more adequately cast than they were as the three snarky sons (Richard, Geoffrey and John, respectively). Each had a different chip on his shoulder; Johnson, Hanna and O’Toole communicated their individual characters’ grievances with distinct and comical flair.”
- Ellen Ferry | Aisle Say Twin Cities