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Chris Goode (27 May 1973 – 1 June 2021) was a British playwright, theatre director, performer, and poet. He was the artistic director of Camden People's Theatre from 2001 to 2004, and led the ensemble Chris Goode and Company until its closure in 2021. His second theatre company was named Ponyboy Curtis, after the protagonist of S. E. Hinton's 1967 novel The Outsiders. Kate Bassett, the theate crtiic for The Independent, said he was known as "British theatre's greatest maverick talent"

A regular performer at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, he won four Fringe First awards for Men in the Cities, Monkey Bars, Neutrino and Kiss of Life. His commission for Queer Up North festival resulted in "The Adventures of Wound Man and Shirley". The Face characterised his work as "either community-focused or one-man shows, in which he performed stories of suicide, bruised men and homosexuality. Praise rolled in from Britain’s biggest critics, along with industry accolades".

Goode hosted the regular podcast Thompson's Live, in which he curated discussions with other theatre artists about their practice.

His plays are published by Oberon Books.

After his death, it was revealed that he used his professional status to abuse and disguise his abuse of young men.

Personal life

Goode was gay and married sound designer and theatre artist Griffyn Gilligan (born 1994) in July 2018.

Goode died by suicide on 1 June 2021. He had been arrested on 5 May for possession of indecent images of children.

Work

Solo shows

• Mirabel (2018). Premiered at Ovalhouse Theatre, London.
• Men in the Cities (2014). Premiered at Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh.
• God/Head (2012). Premiered at Ovalhouse Theatre, London.
• The Adventures of Wound Man and Shirley (2009). Premiered at Contact Theatre, Manchester.
• Hippo World Guest Book (2007). Premiered at Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh.

As playwright

• Mad Man (2014). Premiered at The Drum, Theatre Royal Plymouth.
• Infinite Lives (2014). Premiered at Tobacco Factory Theatre, Bristol.
• Monkey Bars (2012). Premiered at Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh.
• The Loss of All Things (2011). Part of the Bush Theatre's Sixty-Six Books.
• King Pelican (2009). Premiered at The Drum, Theatre Royal Plymouth.
• Speed Death of the Radiant Child (2007) Premiered at The Drum, Theatre Royal Plymouth. Revived at the Warwick Arts Centre (2017).

As director

• Jubilee (2017) adapted from Derek Jarman. Premiered at Manchester Royal Exchange Theatre.
• Every One (2016) by Jo Clifford. Premiered at Battersea Arts Centre.
• Landscape and Monologue (2011) by Harold Pinter. Premiered at the Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal Bath.
• Glass House (2009). Premiered in the Clore Studio, Royal Opera House.

References

1. ^ "Playwright and performer Chris Goode has died". What's On Stage. 3 June 2021.
2. "Camden People's theatre – a sanctuary, playground and repair shop". The Guardian. 11 March 2014. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
3. "Camden People's theatre – a sanctuary, playground and repair shop". The Guardian. 11 March 2014. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
4. Preface Studios. "Chris Goode & Company - house". Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
5. "Close-up: Chris Goode". The Independent. 23 May 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
6. ^ "The Big Idea: The New Order - Royal Court". Royal Court. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
7. "Close-up: Chris Goode". The Independent. 23 May 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
8. "Thompson's Live by Chris Goode on iTunes". iTunes. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
9. "Chris Goode | United Agents". www.unitedagents.co.uk. Archived from the original on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
10. ^ Levesley, David (13 October 2022). "Ponyboy Curtis: how a cult theatre director disguised abuse as art". The Face. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
11. "Chris Goode arrested for possession of indecent images prior to death". The Stage. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
12. Caird, Jo. "Mirabel review at Ovalhouse, London". The Stage. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
13. Gardner, Lyn (1 August 2014). "Edinburgh festival 2014 review: Men in the Cities – fierce portrait of violence". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
14. Gardner, Lyn (28 February 2012). "God/Head – review". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
15. Gardner, Lyn (15 May 2009). "The Adventures of Wound Man and Shirley". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
16. Costa, Maddy (13 August 2007). "Hippo World Guest Book". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
17. "MAD MAN - Theatre Royal Plymouth". Theatre Royal Plymouth. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
18. Gardner, Lyn (7 February 2014). "Infinite Lives – review". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
19. Gardner, Lyn (16 August 2012). "Monkey Bars – Edinburgh festival review". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
20. "Sixty-Six Books". www.bushtheatre.co.uk. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
21. Gardner, Lyn (27 February 2009). "Theatre preview: King Pelican, Plymouth". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
22. Gardner, Lyn (25 May 2007). "Theatre review: Speed Death of the Radiant Child / Drum, Plymouth" – via www.theguardian.com.
23. "WUDS present Speed Death of the Radiant Child". Warwick Arts Centre.
24. "JUBILEE - Royal Exchange Theatre".
25. "Every One - Event Listing All In London".
26. "Theatre Bubble Every One". 4 March 2016.
27. Gardner, Lyn (8 February 2011). "Landscape and Monologue – review". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 February 2017.

• 1973 births
• 2021 deaths
• 2021 suicides
• 21st-century British dramatists and playwrights
• 21st-century British LGBTQ people
• 21st-century British male writers
• British gay writers
• British LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights
• British male dramatists and playwrights
• Gay dramatists and playwrights
• Suicides in the United Kingdom