About the Play:

Goose and Tomtom has long been a favourite of acting teachers for male/male scenes.

Goose and Tomtom is a full-length dark comedy by David Rabe. The Tony-winning writer of Hurlyburly again explores the struggle between hope and anguish in the human spirit in this wild surrealistic comedy involving two underworld gangsters, their girlfriend, and a search for their stolen jewels.

Goose and Tomtom is full of danger and secret plots involving the two title characters and missing jewels. Goose and Tomtom are a pair of small-time jewel thieves united in a strangely unsettling friendship and the constant fight to prove to themselves and others how tough they are. They wield guns and engage in macho posturing, but are actually controlled and directed by their diamond-craving, gold-digging accomplice, the seductive Lorraine. She uses sex and emotion as her weapons, getting the boys to play her sadistic games. Goose and Tomtom have amassed collection of gems, only to have them ripped off by a rival gang. But their frantic scheming to recover the missing gems suddenly begins to betray them in mysterious ways, they find themselves trapped into a kidnapping and a murder over which they seem to have no control. Or do they? David Rabe's language creates and re-creates reality in constantly surprising ways, magically dramatizing the danger of the power of illusions – and the illusion of power – with force and insight.

Goose and Tomtom premiered in 1982 at The Public Theater during the New York Shakespeare Festival. The West Coast premiere was in 1991 at the Stella Adler Theatre in Hollywood with a cast that included Richard Schiff who won a Drama-Logue Award for his starring role as Goose. The play has become a favourite scene study vehicle in acting classes and workshops.

Cast: 2 female, 7 male

What people say:

"Through poetic dialogue and lurid hypersensitivity, Rabe throws together life's simple pleasures and the great unexplained mysteries of the universe...a wild, high-energy ride through plot and action." — LAist

"[Goose and Tomtom] is almost always hilarious. Or unsettling. Or both." — Los Angeles Times

About the Playwright:

David Rabe has been hailed as one of America's greatest living playwrights. Four of his plays have been nominated for the Tony Award, including one win for Best Play. He is the recipient of an Obie Award, the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award, Drama Desk Award, and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award and three Hull-Warriner Awards for playwriting, among others. He is also the author of numerous screenplays, two critically acclaimed novels and a collection of short stories. Born in Dubuque, Iowa, David Rabe lives with his family in Northwest Connecticut.