Director – Margaret Perry
Playwright – Margaret Perry
Director’s Synopsis of Piece:
Goose Chase is a tale of boy-meets-girl told by a talking magpie. What if you discovered your life story had already been written for you? This is a story about stories, the stories we tell and the ones we live – the stories that are chosen for us and the stories we choose for ourselves. Typical and Lovely are a boy and a girl who meet when they’re 8 and a half years old. As they grow up, their lives intertwine – they don’t need anyone else, which is just as well, since there doesn’t seem to be anyone else around for them to talk to. They also begin to notice something strange – a talking magpie the size of a human man who seems to be following them. Things gradually become clear as their story unravels and Lovely has a choice to make.
My Interpretation of Goose Chase:
This for me was one of the most enjoyable productions I have seen in a long time. So many things about this production were spot on for me. Firstly the writing was incredibly innovative and witty that you could not help but notice the orignal writing style of Margaret Perry. The plot is a classic boy meets girl romance turned on its head. The piece invites the audience to watch, then opens up a conversation with the and finally joins the reality of the piece and the reality of the audience together completely shattering any previously mentioned ‘fourth wall’. I enjoy theatre of the absurd more especially when it defamiliarizes the familiar and that is exactly what this piece does. In terms of design aspect it is clear that the independent designers of lighting,sound,costume,make and set communicated a lot and discussed their designs in detail. The lighting achieved natural states when needed but equally was able to create a surrealist atmosphere when called for. The set was a very simple V intersection red-brick wall with a street lamp and two bushes, quite a simple design but done extremely well. The costumes were nothing short of professional standard. The ‘natural’ characters were dressed appropriate for the age they were supposed to be depicting and very casual however the true brilliance of the costume and make up design came to light when the audience was introduced to the narrator of the piece – a human sizes magpie. I was amazed at the detail of the costume and will not begin to describe it as I would not do it justice. Check out the
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