Goobers

The Chattahoochee Shakespeare Company's production of "Goobers" is an unacquired taste. Either you like corn pone or you don't. There's a line in the Springer's production of "Big River" delivered by the Duke, "They want comedy. Low comedy. Maybe something worse than low comedy." That's a review of "Goobers".

"Goobers" is a retelling of the Brer Rabbit story using five more current legends. In order to escape the stew pot, Br'er Rabbit tells the story of Georgia's Big Foot, St. EOM, and Hogzilla as well as lesser known stories. It's part musical, part farce, and part low comedy using four actors. Stephen Sisson as Br'er Bear carries a large part of the action and does it well.

Written by Artistic Director Troy Heard, it's unclear if "Goobers" was conceived as an adult or children's production. The puppetry used to illustrate the stories as well as the four actor's costuming seem to indicate that the play is aimed at children, and, as such, it would be on target. But other than the fact that the Company has added a Sunday matinee to accommodate families, there's nothing on the web site, in the program or in the mission statement that would lead you to believe that's the target audience.

One has to be careful not to take Goobers too seriously and worry about how tight the production is or how well the actors project. It's intended to be light entertainment taking us away from Washington and Wall Street for 40 minutes. How wrong can that be?

It's very good news that the Company has found a more permanent space at 1242 Broadway for next year's season which sounds very aggressive. The final production of this season will be a 1950s update of The taming of the Shrew" to be presented at the Riverfront Amphitheater in May. Bring a picnic and watch out for flying pizzas!