2007 Production History
Good
The show ran June 8 - July 8
Thurs - Sun 8:30pm
Wentworth Subaru Service Center
130 SE 7th Ave (at Ash) |
Gods. Dollars. Love. Need.
Judgement.
Not just another day on the lot.
Ride with us.
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From The Oregonian
Theater review 'Good' does a fine job of storytelling
Ethics - Given a business to run, what's a woman to do with her seeming luck?
Wednesday, June 13, 2007 - MARTY HUGHLEY
"Good," the new show by the venturesome young troupe Sojourn Theatre, asks a lot of its audience. A multilayered, multimedia performance piece, staged in the lobby, lunchroom, offices and service bays of a Subaru dealership, presents a tricky thicket of moral quandaries: Does success affect character? Are you your brother's keeper? With limited resources, how do you decide whom to help? In a world of inequality and uncertainty, what does it mean to be a good person?
In that it bids us to untangle these ethical knots, the show is hard work.
As an evening at the theater, however, "Good" is far from demanding or difficult. It's a marvelously entertaining production that leads you, quite literally, through its time-shifting, perspective-sifting story with so much intelligence and inventiveness, wit and flair, that the path to the philosophical conundrum at its heart seems like a magic portal, never a trap door.
The auto-dealer setting is an apt one for this examination of the profit motive, business and personal relationships and the practical limits of good fortune. But apart from its thematic resonances, the building offers lots of different spaces, and writer-director Michael Rohd and his cast use them in the service of one fresh surprise after another.
The story is liberally adapted from an old Chinese folk tale about a woman given riches by gods as both a reward for, and a test of, her goodness. Here, the gift is a Subaru dealership, which becomes both boon and burden to the kindly Lucy (Kimberly Howard), whose first instinct is always to give.
A short introduction, shown on video iPods passed around before you enter the building, warns that you'll get the story in fragments and that you don't have to understand each piece. That's a considerate touch, but not really necessary; the themes, characters and plot points all flow together so well that it's not hard to follow at all. Not only is the writing clear, but the crisply energetic performances -- James Hart as a gung-ho salesman and Courtney Davis as Lucy's undisciplined sister stand out, but everyone's engaging -- also draw you in to the emotional needs of the characters.
Which brings you back around to those questions about how to meet those needs. There are no easy answers. Except maybe this one: "Good" is just great.
From The Willamette Week
What do you do when the Wentworth family gives you free run of a Subaru dealership? If you're Sojourn Theatre, the answer is: everything! Dance, slapstick, puppetry, song, live music, video—you name it, Good has it, and, contrary to all common sense, it works. The story—a fable about a good-hearted woman whose sudden, God-given wealth presents a pile of moral dilemmas—serves as an excuse to create an exciting, diverse and surprisingly fun production the likes of which we aren't likely to see again. Mike Barber's choreography alone is reason enough to go, but the script, ensemble and design are top-notch as well. Don't miss this one.
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