Goodness Me at Libra Theatre Café Review
Written by Bronagh for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
I’ll be the first to take one for the team and say that I could relate a lot to Goodness Me. The perils of dating apps, the job rejections, the inability to keep a pot plant alive. The only thing I cannot relate to is becoming God. Goodness Me is the story of Celeste, recently single, with the weight of the world on her shoulders. Her trusted Furbee Lulu is always on hand to dance with and to give advice – sarcastic or friendly!
We meet Celeste (Ioana Goga), a thirty-year-old who has recently become single. She has also lost her job, on account of her manager wanting her to ‘focus on her creative writing’. This would be great if Celeste weren’t being rejected left, right, and centre by publishing houses. Thank goodness for Lulu (voiced by Shirley Booth), a Furbee who has been with Celeste through thick and thin… and through discovering that she is, in fact, God. The audience are with Celeste whilst she navigates this complicated journey, sandwiched with the feeling of nothing going right, and the feeling that she needs to fix everything in her life.
Goga is a brilliant performer, and I really enjoyed her portrayal of Celeste. She absolutely nailed the millennial angst, with spot-on comedic timing, hilarious facial expressions, and rocking the mascara down her face. There were a few stumbles where Goga tripped up on her words slightly, but that can be forgiven, given it was the first night. Not only is Goga a talented actress, but she also wrote the script for Goodness Me. Coupled with direction from Anca Vaida, I cannot find any faults with the script whatsoever, only total praise. I remained engaged and thoroughly entertained for the full 80 minutes, whether Celeste was having a ‘wtf’ moment or whether she was pining for the life that could be. There were plenty of millennial jokes peppered throughout, without it being too much of a ‘thing’. The addition of Celeste being God was a very funny twist, suddenly making some events make sense.
The Libra Theatre is teeny-tiny, and so being creative with the space is a must. For Goodness Me, we had projections and props used throughout. The projections, by Andreea Buzӑrnescu, were the cherry on top of the already delicious cake for me, allowing us an insight into Celeste’s world. We had graphics of Celeste’s bedroom, screenshots of text messages, and newspapers, to name a few, almost giving a 90s cartoon feel. Cardboard cut-out props were used for a mug, laptop, and mobile phone throughout, again tapping into the 90s-esque feel. Goodness Me is off to Edinburgh Fringe this year, and I’ve been informed that the screen showing the graphics will be bigger and so the audience can, for example, read the text messages received.
The Libra Theatre Café is a lovely venue, and one I’m surprised I’ve never been to before given that North London is my haunt. Nestled in the heart of Camden, a stones throw from the Roundhouse, this is an absolute gem. A quick look on Google Reviews also informed me that they do the best ham and cheese toastie in town – extremely high praise indeed!
It’s difficult being in your 30s and feeling like you’re not quite ‘there’ yet and like you need to achieve and achieve and achieve. Goodness Me doesn’t shy away from that at all, also showing us that everything will be okay in the end and you ARE doing your best. A fabulous show, and one to catch at the Fringe for sure!
At The Libra Theatre Café until 6th July 2025
★★★★
