The John Show
The New Athenaeum Theatre, Knockabout Studio, 23 the Octagon, Dunedin
23/03/2023 - 25/03/2023
Production Details
Created by John Goudge
SBZ Productions (Directors Blaise and Sarah Barham)
Every home has one, but how much do we know about them? Who was John Doe? Did John Crapper invent the toilet? What was John B. Goodenough famous for? An all-star cast of Johns bring you the words of famous and infamous Johns from throughout history.
Auckland actor John Goudge is literally turned upside down in this one-person show, as his alter-egos take him on a journey from injustice to hope.
First premiering at the Auckland Fringe in September, The John Show was awarded an ‘honourable mention’ for outstanding theatre and music performance. Audiences described the performance as “a triumphant showcase of the human spirit against adversity,” “funny, brave, and raw,” and “an emotional, energetic masterpiece.”
Auckland actor, director and musician, John has a 30 year career as an actor and drama tutor, and runs an acting school at his studio in West Auckland, and at the Titirangi Theatre. He also works with disabled actors for the Interact Disability Arts Trust and Ranfurly Care.
He is a kaiarahi (guardian) for the Pitt St Theatre in Auckland City, and a tutor at local schools.
For the past 6 years John has been a creative director for SBZ Productions, a Dunedin theatre company that features 4 shows at Dunedin Fringe this year. Recent work with SBZ includes directing the touring shows Dear Lupin, and Two, and winning the Shotglass Shorts playwriting competition in Dunedin in August 2022.
John is a regular performer as a musician, and in 2010 released an album of his original songs entitled Fool Circle.
Performances at 6.30pm
Tickets $20 /$10 at www.dunedinfringe.nz
John Goudge
with support from SBZ and the team at The New Athenaeum Theatre.
Comedy , Solo , Theatre ,
80 minutes
Amusing, with occasional pathos
Review by Hannah Molloy 29th Mar 2023
The John Show, perhaps unsurprisingly, is about a series of Johns, brief historical notes about a selection of famous Johns through time, with an excerpt of a play, a speech, a book to follow. John Goudge, the creator and performer of this show, plays a range of his own inner Johns along the way as well: boozy muso John, nerdy researcher John, sensitive actor John, host John and, crucially for reasons that become clear almost at the end, John the Bastard.
The manifestations of the various historical Johns are amusing, with occasional pathos, although I didn’t find myself overly engaged in them. As the show progressed, I found myself pondering the idea of Johns and why they matter more than anyone else – such a common name makes it easy to source content I suppose. John the creator claimed these examples of Johns are freedom fighters in various guises – fair enough perhaps in the context of Hone Keke and John Brown, John Cleese less so for me as anyone who claims to be fighting for free speech raises a small red flag these days.
However, the final part of the show made more sense of these meanderings through Johns of history, and especially of John the Bastard. John the creator launches into an autobiographical narrative of a couple of episodes that had a drastic impact on his self-confidence and indeed his sense of self – who is this John and why is he that John? The anecdotes, if I can use a word associated often with tall tales told around a dinner table, were wrenching, the second much more so than the first. There’s a vulnerability and a bravery in telling your own story, in laying your inner self and internal narratives bare for an audience of strangers to consider and applaud or jeer. This audience very much applauded, recognising and acknowledging the vulnerability and the bravery, perhaps more so than the show itself.
It seems to be a time in our society when we’re freer to externalise our internal narratives – it can come across as self-indulgent and to be perfectly honest, that’s where my opinion was sitting during the historical Johns. The real John however elicited sympathy and I found myself looking at the show through a different, perhaps clearer lens.
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