Potty-mouthed sock puppeteer packs a punch

IN the 19th century, Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde rocked the Victorian world; and since then there have been many variations of stories and characters based on the idea of split personalities and alter egos.

Robert Askins' Hand to God is a story along the same lines - but this time, the alter ego of a teenaged boy is a hand puppet. It offered up, in about 90 minutes, a snapshot of the inner world of a teenaged boy who's dealing with growing up without a father.

So what does a teenager grappling with daddy issues do when he's handed a puppet? He could well channel his inner, unspeakable thoughts through it, and that's what actor Thomas Pang portrayed with aplomb in his role as Jason and Tyrone the puppet.