Satan, the great tempter of men’s souls, takes deceptively innocuous form in the frisky new comedy “Hand to God,” by Robert Askins, at the Ensemble Studio Theater. The particular demonic presence in Mr. Askins’s play has nasty teeth and spooky eyes — fairly standard attributes — but he’s also made of felt and yarn. Yes, the Devil is a sock puppet in this foul-mouthed, fun-packed play about the urges that drive good men (and women, and boys) to dirty deeds.

Set largely in the cheerily decorated basement of a suburban Texas Lutheran church (the set, by Rebecca Lord-Surratt, is a charmer), the play opens with the bright but nervous Margery (Geneva Carr) trying to marshal a small cadre of reluctant puppeteers into preparing a pageant for a church social event.

Things are not proceeding smoothly. Of the three teenage participants, only the nerdy Jessica (Megan Hill) is there by choice, and even she professes a certain disdain for the rudiments of working with mere hosiery. “I’m really more into Balinese shadow puppetry,” she sniffs, “but I’ll take what I can get.”

The glowering Timothy (Bobby Moreno) has been parked in the room because his mother needs to keep him occupied during her “meetings.” He displays his contempt for the enterprise by accosting everyone with slurs and profanity that Margery greets with only mild attempts at reprimand. Newly widowed, Margery has jittery eyes and an uncertain smile that telegraph how desperately she needs this gig, however much humiliation it entails.