Review: Good Night; Never Goodbye (Rogue Festival) - Kings River Life Magazine
Good Night; Never Goodbye was written and directed by Charles Jackson Jr. Charles is also is one of the two actors in the show—he plays the character of Eugene. Allison Coats plays the other character, Rebecca. The entire show takes place in a hotel room.
Good Night; Never Goodbye starts with the pair’s first meeting in a hotel room. Rebecca has left a message for Eugene saying she had something important to tell him. They know each other because their spouses work together at a law firm. The news Rebecca has for Eugene is that their spouses are having an affair. Eugene at first refuses to believe it, certain this is some sort of prank. As he comes to terms with the affair, they begin meeting regularly in this same hotel room—the room where their spouses are having the affair. They meet for comfort and support and end up developing a very close friendship. Over the next year, they each go on their own journey of self-discovery, but they travel it together.
This was a sweet and interesting show that took the couple from deception and heartbreak to a beautiful friendship and healing. The Q and A after the show revealed that the performance was also very unique—the dialogue was completely improvised! They had a goal for each scene and then acted out the journey to get there, coming up entirely with their own dialogue. I thought this was amazing and made the show feel even more real. Both actors say they spent a lot of time getting to know their characters so they could say the things those characters would really say. This was a brilliant idea, and highlighted just how good the pair’s acting abilities.
-Review by Lorie Lewis Ham