• Baylor grad’s play nominated for 5 Tony Awards

    Robert Askins

    Just a few years ago, Robert Askins was a theatre major at Baylor writing plays in his spare time. As of this week, he is Tony Award-nominated writer Robert Askins; his brainchild, Hand to God, is up for five Tonys this summer, including “Best Play.”

    Hand to God is not for the faint of heart. The New York Times referred to it as “a black comedy about the divided human soul,” while the New York Post referred to it as “The Exorcist meets Sesame Street.” In short, it’s about a young man who finds an outlet for his creativity in a Christian puppet ministry, but whose complicated relationships are further troubled when his puppet takes on a irreverent personality of its own.

    Askins, BA ’04, says he got his start writing plays while a student at Baylor“I remember him writing plays that had a lot of pain and violence and fathers and sons, as he was working through the same stuff,” Baylor professor DeAnna Toten Beard told the Times“He was somebody who liked to be seen as a bad boy, but who was really interested in good things, and goodness.”

    Through his involvement in Baylor’s theatre department, Askins met legendary playwright Horton Foote, who in turn connected him with New York’s Ensemble Studio Theater. That’s where Hand to God eventually made its debut before working its way to Broadway.

    The play received 2015 Tony nominations for “Best Play,” “Best Leading Actor in a Play,” “Best Leading Actress in a Play,” “Best Featured Actress in a Play,” and “Best Direction of a Play.” Award winners will be announced during a live CBS broadcast on June 7.

    Sic em, Robert!

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