Difference between revisions of "Good (2020)"

Revision as of 14:01, 29 December 2020

Poster by Bryon Fear

by C P Taylor

Directed by Lisa Thomas

Performances: Tue 3rd – Sat 7th March 2020, Old Fire Station

Introduction

What makes a good man? It's a question John Halder asks himself - it is something he believes himself to be. But this is 1930s Germany and the choices a person makes may be the difference between good and profound evil. A brilliant fable on morality in a turbulent time.

Cast

• John Halder - Nick Howard
• Maurice - Alex Watts
• Nurse / Elisabeth - Katie Floyd
• Mother - Lily Ann Green
• Clerk / Dispatch Rider - Joe Scholes
• Helen - Rebecca Law
• Bouller / Officer / Hoss - Richard Lace
• Anne - Claudia Lace
• Freddie / Crooner - Mitchell Labiak
• Crooner / Bok / Patient - Rob Wallis
• Hitler / Patient - David Carr
• Doctor / Crooner / Eichmann - Jack King

Crew

• Assistant Director - Fiona Daffern
• Stage Manager - Kay George
• Assistant Stage Manager - Melanie Boyce
• Lighting Designer - Bryon Fear
• Sound Designer - Tom Watts
• Operators - Fiona Daffern & Lee Ridgeway
• Costume - SLT Wardrobe, Fiona Daffern, Flame Torbay Costume Hire
• Set - Chaz Doyle, Hans Mudlamootoo, Sean Thomas, Mark Ireson
• Rigging - Sean Thomas, Mark Ireson
• Photography - Phil Gammon
• Programme - Bryon Fear

Reviews

Carole Coyne

SLT is amazing for producing such a variety of plays and this weeks offering of Good by C P Taylor is very different from anything else in this season. it is a strong play about how easily people can be seduced away from their natural moral inclinations by the pull of political and emotional strings. Nick Howard‘s delivery of the lead role is spot on and all the minor characters support him flawlessly. There is remarkably good singing too from characters who were chosen for their acting potential. This story should be told to each generation so we never forget the horrors that happened under the Nazis.

Martin Copland-Gray

Congrats to Lisa Thomas & her team on Good. A difficult subject to tackle but sensitively done by one of my favourite SLT directors. #BEAD

Jess Osorio

Congratulations on some interesting and strong performances in Good. Not an easy play to watch or be in but watching was an interesting and entertaining experience. Well staged and costumed even if unsettling at times. Carries relevancy today.. Do go along and see it even if you think might not be immediately your choice of play. Moments where I laughed even though it was not always comfortable. Thought provoking, deserves full houses. Thought all the actors were excellent, and stretched dramatically by this play. Loved the music, and projections, both of which enhanced the experience.

Audrey Lindsay

Congratulations to everyone involved with Good. It's an absorbing unsettling play with troubling modern resonances, and Lisa Thomas has directed it with meticulous care. The cast is uniformly excellent from Nick Howard's terrifying normal and hapless Halder (and I felt slightly faint contemplating his line-learning feat....) to Joe Scholes' perfectly delivered dispatch rider. And every performance in between - outstanding work and so much to appreciate from LilyAnn Green Coleman, Alex Watts, Bex Law, Mitchell Labiak, Robert Wallis - no, I have to stop, I am just listing ALL the cast members!! Plus this is one of the best examples I have ever seen of sustained onstage discipline by the entire cast. I urge you to book if you haven't done so already.

Anna Rubincam

Congratulations to the cast and crew of Good. A complex play that asks a lot of difficult questions and answers some of them. Some really strong performances, stellar background acting, amazing (and disturbing) costumes, and lots of interesting discussion in the bar afterwards. Don’t miss this!

Bryon Fear

Good ... is an interesting piece of theatre that sparked a lot of debate in the bar last night. An impressive performance and Herculean line count from Nick Howard who really grounds the play with a character that sparks the moral debate at the heart of the piece. The staging of the play is really smart, Lisa Thomas has made some very savvy decisions that pay off. Also, the costumes are glorious in their detail some of the best I have seen in an SLT, production. As Anna Rubincam mentioned in her review the background characters (who never leave the stage) are beautifully observed and delivered with conviction but special mentions for Bex Law, who makes a woefully under-written character believable, and Mitchell Labiak who owns the stage every time he steps foot on it, delivering one of the play’s most interesting characters.

Chaz Doyle

Book your tickets for Good! An interesting play that pitches a normal man, with normal problems in a situation where we all believe we would make the right, the "Good" choice... Nick Howard does a wonderful job as Halder, a not particularly exceptional man, who finds himself singled out and sought after by the Party to make the objective, yet humane argument. Great performances all round, but with special mentions to Bex, Mitchell and LilyAnn. Even having studied WW2, I found myself genuinely reconsidering the propaganda and tactics used by the Nazi party to acheive their aims. Chilling in retrospect.

Hayley Thomas

So glad I saw Good last night! Another excellent SLT ensemble production! Difficult subject matter was handled very well and the overall effect was thought provoking and in the present climate not a little disturbing. Really liked the staging, props and costumes which evoke exactly the right atmosphere. The performances were all very good even when they were not in the spotlight but watching from the 'chorus'. Congratulations to the whole company!

Paul White

Well done -not an easy play! Provoked a lot of discussion in the bar afterwards, and I'm still thinking about it this morning. Very chilling "the economy's doing well - what's not to like" Unsettling. Liked seeing the cast watching throughout, especially Bex and Joe.

Good - good.

Ben Rathe

There are TEN tickets left for Good, and I promise you that is ten too many.

Even though I’d already seen sections of it, and a full run, the full performance blew me away. It is poignant, emotional, funny and beautiful delivered by a brilliant set of performers.

Well done Lisa Thomas, Fiona and all your amazing cast.

Tom Melly

Just wanted to say how much I loved Good. A lot of complicated thoughts are still rattling around my head - mainly deontology shouting "I win!" - which will take some time to unwind. Huge congratulations to the cast - great stuff.

TW that was a hell of a lot of cunts on stage. Was that a record for the SLT? Does anyone track these things? Enquiring minds wish to know...

Christine Theophilis

Really enjoyed(?) Good this evening. Great ensemble performance in a very disturbing, but contemporary play. Though I have to shout out to Nick Howard, who was amazing! If you have a ticket for Saturday, well done you!

Helen Jones

Not an easy watch - all too relevant today, sadly - but a powerful play with so many strong performances. An impressive achievement by all.

Elena Markham

Good is bloody brilliant! Buy a ticket if you haven’t already got one!

Gallery

Reminiscences and Anecdotes

Members are encouraged to write about their experiences of working on or seeing this production. Please leave your name. Anonymous entries may be deleted.

See Also

Have there been other SLT productions of this play? Link to them here.

Or add anything that is related within this site. The author's page for instance or other plays with a similar theme.

References

External Links

• This play on the web