Review: Goose!

River is a goose. Well, she’s a person, but then she’s also a goose.

She’s not sure why, and her parents won’t accept it, but then you can’t really help the way you are, can you? Her best friend, Charlie, thinks you can. So she invents a time machine to go back into the past, find what made River a goose, and stop it. But things go awry when Charlie’s cousin, Chelsea, fidgets with the controls, and hijinks ensue.

Goose! is, in many ways, an impressive production. River, Charlie and Chelsea are realised with confident performances, the story has some novel turns and the commitment to such a weird conceit is refreshing.

Writer Stephanie Francis elected not to make explicit what it means to be a goose, which was a wise choice. Is the show about being gay? Is it about being trans? Or just a bit unconventional? Any interpretation throws up difficult implications – not least of which is why River’s parents and friends are so uncomfortable with her assertion

Part coming-of-age story, part coming-out story, Goose! makes for fun theatre. If its message is a little confusing it is still one of acceptance.