Marcus is a singer/songwriter who’s a streaming a live, one-man concert from his home. Just him and his computer. He is promoting a new album, while receiving adulation from his fans, popping up from the left hand side of the screen. They’re brimming with anticipation. Several ask him to play something from Goat Song, his hit album from back in the day. Unfortunately his contractual agreement forbids him from playing anything but the new songs. Various comments jog particular memories from Marcus, while he’s warming up. Not by design of course, but something beneath his calm, haggard, melancholy exterior inclines him to talk about issues from his past. The rough and rowdy “halcyon” days when he was blowing off steam, touring with the band, killing brain cells and engaging in REM deprivation. The title: Goat Song suggests the abandon of pleasure obsession, just like that flagrant, goat-footed demigod, Pan.
As he reflects on various, self-destructive incidents, the promised performance goes a bit offtrack. He more or less converses with the comments being made. He starts a song and then, trailing off, engages with his ghosts. A nearly fatal crash while driving the band. The dissolute life on the road. An alienated best friend. One of the viewers asks: Did you love him? As Marcus reminisces he goes to a very dark and isolated place. His demeanor, just sitting in front of his computer, changes noticeably. It’s as if we’re watching him get farther and farther away. His fans don’t want to hear his new stuff, only pieces from Goat Song.
Second Thought Theatre: always fearless, never hesitant to explore the shadows, has produced this live-streaming , somber narrative of Marcus, a caring soul who has hit a bad patch. Caught up in a succession of catastrophes, the yammering of his zoom audience only seems to make his pathology worse. Drew Wall is nuanced, poignant and touching as Marcus. Mr. Wall seems to come by his authenticity as if by second nature, whether he’s playing a lobby clerk, soldier or musician. Written by Matt Harmon, this one-act pulls you right in, the pathos so palpable, the hero’s frailty so affecting, it’s hard to believe we’re watching from a remove.
Second Thought Theatre presents Goat Song, streaming July 2nd-17th, 2021. 3400 Blackburn Street, Dallas, Texas 75219. 214-897-3091. Secondthoughttheatre.com Web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/1060097