When God talks, you want to listen.
Especially when channeled through Paige Davis.
Davis, the host of the TV show “Trading Places,” willingly gives herself over to the Big Boss in Arizona Theatre Company’s production of “An Act of God.”
The comedy, by one-time “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” writer David Javerbaum, is about 85 minutes of one deliciously irreverent one-liner after another.
The premise is this: God’s taken the human form to make a few adjustments on the Ten Commandments. He wanted to inhabit Davis — who has no clue this has been done — because she’s so perky and charming. And, well, she is.
God’s bored with the commandments as writ by her and passed on by Moses: “I’ve grown weary of the Ten Commandments in the way Don McLean has grown weary of ‘American Pie,’” she explains.
She’s brought along a couple angelic helpers: Gabriel, who reads passages from the Bible at her command, and Michael, who is damned annoying with his persistent questions. God grows weary of those queries, as well.
There are a few holdover commandments, such as the one about not worshipping false gods — she doesn’t like any competition. New ones include “Thou shalt not tell others whom to fornicate” and “Thou shalt separate the church and state.” When she isn’t passing on new commandments, God dishes on Adam and Eve (it was Adam and Steve before Steve got the boot and Eve was created), explains why she allowed such horrors as the Holocaust (“Cabaret” is her favorite play, you see, and if there were no Holocaust, there would be no “Cabaret”), and gives us the real story behind Noah’s Ark (she never commanded he bring on two of each animal, rather she told him to bring two puppies).
She also requests that we stop calling her name out during sex (“I’m not interested,” she says). And she explains that her chosen people are celebrities.
James Gleason, looking a bit like Truman Capote but sounding nothing like him — he has a deep, godly voice — was a hoot as Gabriel. Max Lawrence was a charming vexation to God, but a delight to everyone else.
The three have pristine comic timing, as does the director Marsha Mason, whose comedic roles have brought her Oscar nominations. So it’s no wonder that the play whips right on by. You may forget most of it within a few hours, but it isn’t likely you’ll forget the laughter.
