In early 2020, amidst the terror of a tornado tearing through her parents’ Tennessee town, Jen Tullock found herself doing something she hadn’t done in years: praying. Huddled in the basement with her family as the storm raged, the words came instinctively, from a place deep within she barely recognized. “I started praying by rote, from a place I did not know existed,” Tullock later shared from her Greenwich Village home. “Afterward, I sort of had to look at them and say, ‘Oops, where did that come from?'”
This spontaneous return to prayer wasn’t entirely unexpected for Tullock, who grew up in a devout Christian family in Kentucky. Yet, as an openly gay woman, she believed she had long since shed the complexities of her upbringing. It turns out, some parts of our past linger longer than we think. This complicated history and its ongoing impact on her adult life now form the heart of her new Off Broadway production, ‘Nothing Can Take You From the Hand of God,’ currently running at Playwrights Horizons until November 9.
While known for her high-profile TV roles, such as the warm and supportive Devon, sister to Adam Scott’s character in Apple TV+’s ‘Severance,’ and the alluring 1930s screenwriter Anita in HBO’s ‘Perry Mason,’ this new solo play delves into much more intimate territory. Written with her longtime friend and collaborator Frank Winters, the show explores a woman’s intense reckoning with her faith and past, and the challenging experience of being a lesbian within a Christian community.
The stage production of ‘Nothing Can Take You From the Hand of God’ uniquely integrates video captured by six cameras, some operated by Tullock herself, others remotely controlled. This multimedia approach is integral to the narrative, with Tullock explaining, “Jared and I said from Day 1, if there’s ever a moment where we could tell the story without the cameras, then we’re doing it wrong.”
Tullock, who left the church at 18, recalled that leaders from her childhood megachurch and evangelical school often equated “homosexual sin” with grave offenses like mass murder. Today, she describes herself as “deeply spiritual and deeply embarrassed of that phrase.” The play draws heavily from her religious upbringing in Louisville, where her parents largely shielded her from secular culture, ensuring her education was through a biblical lens. “As you might imagine,” she quipped, “I did not do great on the SATs. They were like, ‘Well, she could read.'”
Now, she finds herself thriving in a highly visible role on one of popular culture’s most scrutinized series. Adam Scott, her ‘Severance’ co-star, expressed admiration, saying, “It’s fascinating to hear that story from Jen and then see who she is. I know I wouldn’t have the strength to become the kind of person Jen is if that were the environment and the 360-degree view of the world that I had.” While ‘Nothing Can Take You From the Hand of God’ is not strictly autobiographical, Tullock notes that “a lot of moments are inspired by things that did happen,” maintaining a fictional distance to protect her family and allow for creative freedom.
Her paternal grandparents played a pivotal role in broadening young Jen’s horizons, introducing her to local museums, sharing copies of The New Yorker (which she hid under her mattress), and Barbra Streisand CDs. Reflecting on those formative years, Tullock humorously shared a childhood photo of herself dressed as novelist Donna Tartt, remarking, “I look like I’m running Secret Service for my own grandfather.”
Writing became another vital escape. In recent years, Tullock co-wrote and starred in the 2019 film ‘Before You Know It’ and in 2023, created her stand-up show ‘You Shall Inherit the Earth!,’ available on demand. This show touched on her experience with a mini-stroke a couple of years prior, an event during which she again found herself praying. Jen Tullock’s role in the series ‘Severance’ further showcases her versatile talents.
Performance was also a family affair, with Tullock and her parents singing in their megachurch’s worship group. “To me, my mom was like Celine Dion because she was up there on the Jumbotron singing and was very charismatic and funny,” Tullock recalled. “I think being onstage was something I felt comfortable with from a young age.”
Her dual talent for writing and performing has proved invaluable on the ‘Severance’ set. Series creator Dan Erickson praised her contributions, noting, “Her thoughts were always incredibly helpful. She speaks writer, so she can articulate what she’s getting at in a way that’s really helpful.”
It’s no accident that Frances, the main character in ‘Nothing Can Take You From the Hand of God,’ is a writer with a new book titled ‘Never the Twain Shall Meet: Losing God and Finding Myself.’ Tullock explained she wanted Frances to be someone who had “monetized their version of this story,” allowing her to explore “what happens when one timeline and one version of truth start to bump against another in real time.”
This theme of fractured reality is brought to life through the play’s innovative staging by multimedia-theater expert Jared Mezzocchi. Tullock and Mezzocchi’s friendship dates back to 2007, when he was a graduate student and she an assistant at Brooklyn College. Their professional collaboration rekindled during the Covid lockdown when Tullock began developing ‘Hand of God,’ and was further solidified when she performed in his immersive production of Sarah Gancher’s play ‘The Wind and the Rain: A Story About Sunny’s Bar’ last year.
“We have a visual language in the play where there are rules like, for example, when Frances is onstage, there’s not video of her — she can’t be perceived,” Tullock detailed. This intricate setup demands extreme precision from Tullock, who seamlessly shifts between characters, hitting precise visual and audio cues. She uses a script filled with personal drawings and doodles as mnemonic devices for her lines and prompts.
Mezzocchi emphasizes that the technical demands are deliberately theatrical: “the challenges are intentionally theatrical challenges, like how she frames herself, how she whips something around.” He equates this use of technology to traditional props, stating, “My design team was like, ‘What if she’s off-frame?’ And I’m like, ‘That’s great, just what theater does.'”
Ultimately, the play aims to present a profoundly personal, human story of self-discovery and transformation. It delves into how individuals are shaped by their past and how they evolve, or don’t, in their journey to find peace. Tullock shared that her younger brother will attend opening night, and she hopes her parents, who now support her queerness, will eventually see the show. “There is a lot of pain in our history, a lot of deep pain,” she acknowledged. “And also I’m proud of my parents because they’ve worked really hard to meet me where I am.”
“We’re trying to tell an honest version of this story that isn’t about a good guy or a bad guy,” she added. Tullock reflected on her 20s and 30s, when she was “obsessed with irony,” describing herself as “just a drunk little prick trying to emulate the exact same shows and artists I’d claim to be above because I was scared and insecure.” This new production, she hopes, marks a new stage of acceptance. “I hope people know that it is like a letter of forgiveness,” she concluded. “I’ve made so many things out of anger, and this is not one of them.”