When Idris Goodwin was commissioned by the Boulder (Colo.) Ensemble Theatre, he was drawn to writing about the challenge of education today, but he had no idea what shape the script would take.
Eventually titled What’s Best for the Children, the play grew out of a performance piece he had written years earlier after reading an article about Texas and the power that state has over the textbook industry.
“I just knew that there was a play there,” says Goodwin, “because it was at the intersection of education, of politics, of biases, community, all the stuff I like to write about. Typically, I start with a question and then I dive into that question.”
What emerged was a raucous comedy about the first Black school board chairman in an unspecified state. He is about to vote on a critical education issue when he faces some extreme efforts to influence his vote, including his abduction.
What’s Best for the Childrena has had developmental readings in such diverse locations as Chicago, Orlando and Goodwin’s current home base of Seattle. On Saturday, it had its world premiere at Florida Atlantic University’s Theatre Lab in Boca Raton.
“Readings are great and useful, but at this juncture I need to see it fully produced,” he says. To see what happens when they don’t have the pages in their hands.” A world premiere is, by definition, a leap into the unknown. “I’ve never seen this play before,” Goodwin concedes. “I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
If it goes well, audience members will find something to think about and laugh at. “In these times, when everything is so tense, I think everybody’s been through a lot in the last few years,” says Goodwin, a former poet, arts champion and current artistic director of the renowned Seattle Children’s Theatre. “So this play tries to address these hard-hitting issues, but with a comic sensibility. I’ve been reading a lot of Neil Simon and Oscar Wilde, trying to learn how to write comedy.” What has emerged, however, is more of a Mel Brooks satire, he feels. “I think I’ve landed in solid Mel Brooks territory.”
Goodwin is not really sure how his script arrived at FAU Theatre Lab, but he is pleased that it will have its first full production in the Sunshine State. “I think the fact that the world premiere is in Florida, the universe is telling me something.” he says. “This is the hotbed of education difficulties. This is where it’s going down.”
Still, he knew he had to exaggerate the situation further for comic effect, and he had an image of where the play would begin and where it would lead. “Conceptually, I knew I wanted to play with this goofy idea of somebody being kidnapped three times in the same day. That is definitely where I started,” Goodwin says. “And it was always leading to the council vote as the climax of the play.” In between, he gave the action a self-reflexive “meta quality to the play, almost like a variety show,” including the occasional quiz for the audience.
Of course, the true test of a comedy is whether the audience finds it funny. “I want to see where they laugh and if they laugh, One thing I’ve learned in my career is they never laugh where you think they’re going to laugh. And they laugh where I never expected them to laugh.” Goodwin notes. “And the audience is always right, because they bought the tickets.”
While there are serious themes lurking in What’s Best for the Children, Goodwin emphasized to the Theatre Lab cast to keep the tone light. “As I said to them early on, ‘Have at it. This is silly. This is not a Fabergé egg. All of it is ludicrous. It’s a stupid play that has some interesting and semi-intelligent moments in it. So have fun, just enjoy it.”
When he flew in to attend some rehearsals, Goodwin expected his rewrites to be minor, yet “I created a brand-new ending for it maybe a week ago,” he reports. “This ending may have worked well in staged readings and on the page, but suddenly hearing them read it, I realized that after 80 minutes of watching it, it ended on the wrong note.”
Once he gets the audience laughing, Goodwin feels, they will be receptive to consider the quality of education youngsters are receiving. “What’s best for the children is the central question. That is what I want the audience to reflect on, to go on a journey about. And I guess a more pointed question for every adult in the room is what is our responsibility to all the children.”
As a former teacher and as a parent, Goodwin knows how crucial a good education is for the future of our children and for our nation. “When they open the books on American history 100 years from now, they’re going to talk about 2024 and the state of education in America, and Florida will be brought up. We are all in it, we all have a responsibility to the kids, what they learn and where this country goes next. This play is a space where we can think about that and meditate on that, but more importantly we can laugh about that.
“It’s something different. It’s less than 90 minutes. I’m not asking for your whole night. It moves quick, it’s fun, it’s thought-provoking. I think you’ll have great conversations afterwards. It’s a good time.”
WHAT’S BEST FOR THE CHILDREN, FAU Theatre Lab, Parliament Hall, FAU Campus, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton. Now through April 28. $35-$45. Call 561-297-6124 or visit www.fau.edu/artsandletters/theatrelab/.