Pleasance Courtyard
Aug 20-28 (14:15 )

Script:  Stagecraft:  Performance: 

There is something quaintly charming about the experience of watching Goody. This play is brought to us by Boondog Theatre, & is essentially a monologueing travelling-entertainer monkey-handler & his bubbly nose-picking, booze-swilling chimpanzee, played with wonderful agility by Lucy Roslyn. watching her in action shows that altho’ we humans have lost the tail, we can still pull off the moves.

The time is 1930’s Dustbowl America, & what follows is rag-tag ride through reminiscence & inter-species friendship, combined with a lot of silent monkeying about by Roslyn, which was all, like I said, quaintly charming. Then something unexpected happens, the chimp begins to speak. ‘Ouch’ I thought, that wasn’t needed, why set up one type of theatre, then rip the rug from under out psychic feet. Then I remembered something Lucy had said in a recent interview with The Mumble:

It is a darkly funny look into the relationship between one man and his ape – two characters unable to communicate on an equal level. Backstage at the circus we meet Goody, a performing chimpanzee, and her one companion: her trainer Frances. How does this relationship work? An ape is dangerous and volatile. Even with an animal you have known for years, things can flip in a moment

Was she actually talking about the flip between a chimpanzee & a speaking monkey! Either way, Goody is ultimately a ghostly piece of theater where nothing much of interest really happens, but when it does it actually detracts from the theatrical illusion.

Reviewer : Damo