WOMAN IN A SUITCASE
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I’m still not sure what to call whatever it is Goell does, except to say that her one-woman show blends all of the above into something funny, engaging, and–most important–easily understandable. The woman of the title is an adventuresome young lady based, says Goell, on the Eloise character of Kay Thompson’s stories. She ventures from her humble home (and a suitcase, even one with a sunshiny window painted on the inside of the lid, is certainly humble) somewhere in eastern Europe to the United States for the purpose of attending a recital at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Her voyage takes her through customs onto a luxury airliner featuring an unflappable pilot, a bubbly stewardess, and two films for the on-flight amusement of the passengers: War for War’s Sake and Lost Beauty Secrets of the New Reunified Euro-Woman, which offers instructions on the manufacture of facial creams from organic foodstuffs. When mechanical problems force the plane to turn back, the undaunted wayfarer parachutes into the Atlantic, braving sharks, doldrums, and tidal waves until her lifeboat lands on Ellis Island. From there she rides the “dog bus” to Port Authority, and after several futile attempts to secure directions to Carnegie Hall from motley New Yorkers, manages to subway to the theater, where she finds herself seated in a balcony so distant from the stage that “the performers all look like puppets.” She enjoys the concert she has traveled so far to hear anyway.
