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The Goat, Or Who Is Sylvia?.
"The premise of the play is that there's a 50 year old architect
who has an amazing wife, [and] a slightly quirky, funny, interesting
son - who I play. Basically, on the eve of his fiftieth birthday,
he's just won this incredible architecture prize. He's at the
zenith; he's got it all. But then his best friend comes over
and starts to figure out that something might be... going on
here. And so, the architect reveals to his friend that he's
been having an affair with this Sylvia. And we eventually find
out that Sylvia is a goat. So that is the provocative premise
from which the play begins." Actor Cameron Goodall is giving
me the low-down on State Theatre's new production, Edward Albee's
'The Goat, Or Who Is Sylvia?'
While it's unlikely to attract those easily offended, Goodall points out that this scenario is simply the catalyst to the deeper themes covered in the play. "It is side-splittingly funny - the main chunk of it is just hilarious - but it goes deeper and deeper and deeper and spirals into an incredible tragedy; it's an amazing ride. It becomes a play in which the goat works on an allegorical level, and is representative of desire and anything that sits outside of the square of a very civilised existence."
It's no surprise to learn that cast and crew had some interesting conversations during rehearsals. "It's part of the process that I think is really important," says Goodall. "It's really fun. We have some really good, fun conversations, but we need to all be... well, all on the same page, plugged into what the discourse of the whole play is, so that we can get our teeth into it together. And those conversations were incredibly rewarding to be part of, they were hilarious and moving and strange and searching. That's when I go: Jesus, I'm lucky to have this job."
What is surprising is the fact that Edward Albee was over 70 years old when he wrote the play. "Yeah, it's incredible. He's basically just maintained this really deep concern with relationships, which is there in the play; examining a marriage - which is what [classic Albee play] 'Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?' does. Actually the Assistant Director, Jack Sheridan, got this before and after picture of Edward Albee - one when he was about 20, and one now. And the difference in the man is incredible! But he's got the same sort of down-curled mouth that shows he's dissatisfied with the world... you could see it's the same man," laughs Goodall. "It's really witty, he's such a witty writer. These people are just cracking jokes all the time in the midst of this chaos and this terrible news. Above it all they have this ability to entertain each other, which is really odd, and great fun to play." An example of this humour is Goodall's character's name - Billy.
A founding member of The Border Project (creators of the hit 'Please Go Hop!', which has been booked to play the Sydney Opera House), member of local band The Audreys, and sometime guitarist with The Scared Weird Little Guys, Goodall's having a great run work-wise. "At the moment there's enough work in Adelaide - it's great. And the State Theatre Company here has just started to form a corporate arm, basically looking to give actors in Adelaide opportunities to work in corporate training, bringing our acting skills to business, to teach them how to do public speaking. So that's a great initiative because it means there's a bit more of the bread and butter stuff here."
Wade Howland
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'The Goat, Or Who Is Sylvia?' can be seen at the Dunstan Playhouse until Sat 20 August.
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