''A Madhouse in Goa'' is a play by

Martin Sherman Martin Gerald Sherman (born December 22, 1938) is an American dramatist and screenwriter best known for his 20 stage plays which have been produced in over 60 countries. He rose to fame in 1979 with the production of his play '' Bent'', which e ...

written in two parts – the first act is titled "A Table for a King", the second, "Keeps Rainin’ all the Time". A ''Madhouse in Goa''’s first act takes place in the year 1966 on the Greek island of

Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

, with the second act set in the year 1986 on the

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

Greek island of

Santorini Santorini ( el, Σαντορίνη, ), officially Thira (Greek: Θήρα ) and classical Greek Thera (English pronunciation ), is an island in the southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km (120 mi) southeast from the Greek mainland. It is the ...

Synopsis

The first act of

Sherman Sherman most commonly refers to: *Sherman (name), a surname and given name (and list of persons with the name) ** William Tecumseh Sherman (1820–1891), American Civil War General *M4 Sherman, a tank Sherman may also refer to: Places United St ...

's play, "A Table for a King", is a narrative

vignette Vignette may refer to: * Vignette (entertainment), a sketch in a sketch comedy * Vignette (graphic design), decorative designs in books (originally in the form of leaves and vines) to separate sections or chapters * Vignette (literature), short, i ...

of the experiences of David, a gay, Jewish traveler from

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

staying at the Kistos Inn on

. There he meets and befriends Mrs. Honey, a talkative

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word ...

from

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

, who is eventually betrayed by David and blackmailed by the owner of the inn to give up her table for the visiting

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

of Greece. The second act of ''A Madhouse in Goa'', "Keeps Rainin' all the Time", is set 20 years after the first act, and reveals that David's real name is Daniel Hosani. Daniel became a famous author after publishing a novel centered around the events within the first act of the play, but eventually fell from popularity and succumbed to the effects of heavy drug usage, drinking, and stroke, becoming

aphasic Aphasia is an inability to comprehend or formulate language because of damage to specific brain regions. The major causes are stroke and head trauma; prevalence is hard to determine but aphasia due to stroke is estimated to be 0.1–0.4% in t ...

. His legal guardian, Heather, was also present at the Kistos Inn 20 years prior with Daniel and knows that his book does not tell the whole truth of what had actually transpired, distorting and white-washing the narrative to make it more appealing to readers. Dying from cancer, Heather arranges to sell the rights of Daniel's book to a

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

film producer seeking to adapt the novel into a film

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

. Heather arranges for the money made from the movie deal to be donated to a selection of humanitarian organizations, only for the deal to never be realized.

Characters

"A Table for a King"

* David: early 20s, American * Mrs. Honey: early 60s, American * Costos: 18, Greek * Nikos: 30s, Greek

"Keeps Rainin' all the Time"

* Daniel Hosani: late 40s, American * Oliver: late 40s, British * Heather: late 40s, American * Dylan: Heather’s son, 19, American * Aliki: mid-20s * Barnaby Grace: late 20s, American

Relevance to LGBTQ Theatre

As an openly gay Jewish man,

often writes characters who are

marginalized Social exclusion or social marginalisation is the social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society. It is a term that has been used widely in Europe and was first used in France in the late 20th century. It is used across discipline ...

from society, dramatizing the "other"- societal outsiders identified as such due to their being gay, female, foreign,

disabled Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, se ...

, different in religion, class, or

color Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...

. The cast of characters within Sherman's ''A Madhouse in Goa'' showcases the

intersectional Intersectionality is an analytical framework for understanding how aspects of a person's social and political identities combine to create different modes of discrimination and privilege. Intersectionality identifies multiple factors of adva ...

element of his writing, featuring

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

Q individuals, women, foreigners, and a

man, while the plot provides representation of the struggles faced by

LGBTQ people in his depiction of David/Daniel, as this character is

disowned Disownment occurs when a parent renounces or no longer accepts a child as a family member, usually due to reprehensible actions leading to serious emotional consequences. Different from giving a child up for adoption, it is a social and interpers ...

by his family for being gay and experiences alienation from others due to his

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

. The popularity of ''A Madhouse in Goa'' within the realm of theatre is supported by the noteworthy casts that have assumed roles within the play, but its relevance to the genre of LGBTQ theatre is supported by the play's incorporation of characters that could be identified as members of

LGBTQ community The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a common culture and social ...

. Tied intrinsically to the genre of LGBTQ theatre due to its content and subject matter, ''A Madhouse in Goa'' not only highlights issues faced by LGBTQ individuals, it is also authored by

, a playwright whose history is steeped in gay theatre

Critical reception

In regards to this work's

critical Critical or Critically may refer to: *Critical, or critical but stable, medical states **Critical, or intensive care medicine *Critical juncture, a discontinuous change studied in the social sciences. *Critical Software, a company specializing in ...

reception, the responses to

’s ''A Madhouse in Goa'' tend to vary, with some American critics describing the play as listless and sardonic, while others describe the play as tenacious and enthralling. Sherman wrote ''A Madhouse in Goa'' to reflect his own particular fears regarding the current state of the world at the time of the play's creation in 1989. With these concerns informing the narrative of ''A Madhouse in Goa'', its plot addresses atrocities plaguing the global community, including the

AIDS crisis The AIDS epidemic, caused by HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), found its way to the United States between the 1970s and 1980s, but was first noticed after doctors discovered clusters of Kaposi's sarcoma and pneumocystis pneumonia in homosexu ...

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

, political unrest,

nuclear fallout Nuclear fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and the shock wave has passed. It commonly refers to the radioac ...

, and environmental issues.

’s play has been characterized as

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

, providing commentary upon the consequences of

moral A moral (from Latin ''morālis'') is a message that is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader, or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim. A ...

blindness and its effects upon the individual as well as the

global population In demographics, the world population is the total number of humans currently living. It was estimated by the United Nations to have exceeded 8 billion in November 2022. It took over 200,000 years of human prehistory and history for the ...

, and although most reviewers agree that the

humorous Humour (Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids in t ...

aspects of ''A Madhouse in Goa'' translate well to audiences, the numerous cataclysmic events on the precipice of eruption within this play cause some critics to remark that the plot comes across as unfocused and overwhelming.

Productions

Premier Production

The first performance of ''A Madhouse in Goa'' took place on April 28, 1989, at the Lyric Theatre in

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

, England, directed by Robert Allan Ackerman.

Cast

* David/Barnaby Grace:

Rupert Graves Rupert Simeon Graves (born 30 June 1963) is an English film, television, and theatre actor. He is known for his roles in ''A Room with a View'', ''Maurice'', ''The Madness of King George'' and ''The Forsyte Saga''. From 2010 to 2017 he starred ...

* Mrs. Honey/Heather:

Vanessa Redgrave Dame Vanessa Redgrave (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress and activist. Throughout her career spanning over seven decades, Redgrave has garnered numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Television Award, two ...

* Costos/Dylan: Ian Sears * Nikos/Oliver:

Larry Lamb Lawrence Douglas Lamb (born 1 October 1947) is an English actor and radio presenter. He played Archie Mitchell in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', Mick Shipman in the BBC comedy series ''Gavin & Stacey'' and Ted Case in the final series of ...

* Daniel Hosani: Arthur Dingam * Aliki: Francesca Fontan

United States Performance

The first performance of ''A Madhouse in Goa'' within the United States took place on November 17, 1997, at the McGinn-Cazale Theater in New York City. This play was produced by The Second Stage Theater, directed by Nicholas Martin.

Cast

* David/Barnaby Grace: Rick Stear * Mrs. Honey/Heather:

Judith Ivey Judith Lee Ivey (born September 4, 1951) is an American actress and theatre director. She has twice won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play: for ''Steaming'' (1981) and ''Hurlyburly'' (1984). She has also appeared in several films ...

* Costos/Dylan: Mark Klein Lewis * Nikos/Oliver:

Daniel Gerrol Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...

* Daniel Hosani: Russ Thacker * Aliki:

Denise Faye Denise Faye Greenbaum is an American actress, dancer, choreographer, and director. She is the recipient of an American Choreography Award, as well as a Screen Actor's Guild Award for the 2002 film ''Chicago''. Faye won the ''Dance Track Magazi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Madhouse In Goa Plays by Martin Sherman LGBT-related plays