Animated and pleasantly weird.
Gemma and Josie have been best friends since school, where they were bound together by their common social isolation. When they become adults and begin sharing a flat, the pair celebrate by buying two goldfish who serve as an ongoing symbol of both closeness and imprisonment. Gemma begins finds herself increasingly constricted by her life with Josie - always the more clinging of the pair - and begins to rebel against the confines of their relationship. The drama of Josie and Gemma negotiating the balance between intimacy and independence is interspersed with scenes of Sunny and Boo (played by the two actors) mulling through their own parallel problems as they float in the blue-lit glow of their tank.
These emotional themes are light-heartedly dealt with in the duo’s wacky comic style as they cheerfully address the audience, bicker with each other and recreate scenes from their past. The exaggeratedly awkward and self-conscious style of their performance can seem strange at first, but you quickly settle into it and laugh more freely. The pair operate as a classic double-act, with Gemma’s laconic, deadpan style serving as the foil to Josie’s energetic cheerfulness. Most of the show is addressed to the audience and the performers frequently break the fourth wall, chatting to the lighting operator and comically prompting each other.
Goggles isn’t necessarily a show which aspires to be deeply profound or iconoclastic, but it’s animated and pleasantly weird. This is a successful, well-rehearsed piece of laugh-out-loud theatre, and you’ll leave the show with a warm, smiley feeling.
