Holy Cross Department of Theatre Presents Faculty-Directed Production of C.P. Taylor's 'Good'

The department of theatre at the College of the Holy Cross will present C.P. Taylor’s harrowing musical fantasia, Good, about one man’s gradual acceptance of Nazism in 1930’s Germany on Nov. 2 - 4 and 9 - 11 at 8 p.m. in Fenwick Theatre (O’Kane Hall). The production is directed by Edward Isser, associate professor and chair of the theatre department, with music direction by Eric Culver, lecturer in the music department. Tickets are $7 for members of the Holy Cross community and $10 for the general public. Groups of 10 or more can purchase tickets at a special rate of $5 each.

Good is a chilling and provocative examination of how an upright individual can degenerate to a state of moral depravity. Set during the early years of the Nazi regime, the play takes us inside the head of a German literature professor, a specialist in Goethe’s Faust, who slowly begins to lose touch with reality as the fantasies of his imagination merge with the increasingly absurd quality of life under Hitler’s rule. This musical play asks us to reconsider our notions of what constitutes good and evil and the meaning of individual responsibility.

John Halder, educated, middle-aged, comfortable, married, seems to hear music in his head. His Jewish analyst and friend, Maurice, attempts to help him as both his marriage and his life seem to be crumbling. But the rise of Nazism seems to offer a different cure for Halder’s woes.

Songs are employed in this production to reveal character, mood and motivation, as events move toward the horror of the Holocaust. Good promises to be an entertaining, gripping, and ultimately moving evening of theatre.

The set for Holy Cross’ production is designed by Robert Mack, assistant technical director in the theatre department, lighting by William J. Rynders, associate professor of theatre, and costumes by Kurt S. Hultgren, costume designer in the theatre department.

First produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company in London in 1981 and then brought to Broadway in 1982, Good was hailed by Frank Rich of the The New York Times, as “a flawless display of theatre craft.”

For more information or press tickets, please contact Joe Mader in the theatre department at 508-793-3490 or jmader@holycross.edu.