Theater Review: GOODS (Artemisia Theatre in Chicago)

Family. Waste. Refugees. Class. Climate Change. All these and more fly off today’s headlines, but like a genie in a magic lamp, playwright Lauren Ferebee has fit them all — and more — inside a tiny capsule moving through the universe, where two American women have been collecting space trash for twenty years. The duo are now being sent on one last pick-up and drop-off, but the powers-that-be may have something else up their sleeves. In this virtual production from Artemisia Theatre in Chicago, two always fascinating actresses — Julie Proudfoot and Shariba Rivers — fill the screen with mystery, love, and tension in this sci-fi trek. Directed by E. Faye Butler, who manages to hold our attention even as the play is as static as our politics, Goods has plenty to say, and yet we never feel lectured at. What a wonder when theater (virtual or not) can explore today’s issues but make it about the characters’ journey, not the issues. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Julie Proudfoot and Shariba Rivers as two intergalactic trash collectors on a mysterious mission

Goods
Artemisia Theatre
streaming Wed-Sat at 7:30 CT, Sun at 2 CT
ends on Sunday, May 30, 2021
for tickets, visit Artemisia