Snow Goose Lays an Egg
World Premiere at Goodspeed
By: Karen Isaacs - Oct 01, 2026
If the world premiere musical now at Goodspeed through Sunday, Oct. 18, is going to become the next Annie, the creative team of the show has a great deal of work to do.
I tried so hard to like this adaptation of Paul Gallico‘s very short novella, The Snow Goose –a Story of Dunkirk, but some elements just made it difficult to do so.
The well-loved story of Frith, a teenage girl in a small seaside town in England in the 1930s and her growing friendship with Philip, the outcast artist, all because of a wounded snow goose can be heartbreaking. It is so much about isolation, loneliness, acceptance, and growing friendship. It is about two people who don’t necessarily fit in finding a common bond and a connection.
Certainly, there are effective elements in the adaptation by Scott Gilmour and Claire McKenzie and the direction by Marshall Pailet. The use of a narrator called The Bard (an excellent Sam Sherwood) helps to set the stage for the story. But do we need to find out at the finale that he is one of the characters we have seen earlier as a teen friend of Frith’s?
Rather than focus on the three characters – Frith, Philip and the snow goose, the team has added events and character including a backstory for Frith that causes the essential focus and the theme to be lost. What made the book gentle and sweet, if a little overly sentimental, is drowned in all the other plot points.
An example is the addition of Harper a cousin to Frith and apparently her guardian when her parents died. Gilmour and McKenzie give Harper a long song (“The World Don’t Want to Know”) that explains her character’s frustrations and regrets. Do we really need to know all of this? It also detracts from the idea that Frith is isolated and seeking connection. They have provided a group of teens that she is involved with. Another example is an added scene where Frith tries to get the villagers to accept Philip; while the creative team undoubtedly were attempting to dramatize how the villagers disliked this person who was different than them, it was jarring to the mood.
While we learn more than we need to know about Frith, Gilmour and McKenzie have slighted Philip, the reclusive artist who lives at the lighthouse, takes care of injured birds, and is viewed by the town people as dangerous.
An off-course snow goose, a native of Canada, who is wounded is what brings Frith and Philip together. Philip heals the bird and Frith visits frequently beginning a tentative friendship with the artist. Though the bird migrates, it surprisingly returns each summer.
The story ends with the rescue of soldiers from Dunkirk in 1940. Frith is now a young woman (20 or so) and in the original story she and Philip have perhaps developed feelings for each other beyond friendship. The novella, and musical, end with Philip’s participation in helping rescue the stranded soldier at Dunkirk with the help of the snow goose.
Goodspeed lives up to its high standards with its production values and fine performances by the cast. If we judge by the number of songs the characters have Firth is obviously considered the lead. Ashlyn Maddox does an excellent job, particularly in showing her maturing from a young teenager to an adult. She captures the audience; her voice brings depth to the songs. Eric Graise plays Philip the shunned man who has become accepting of his isolation and almost comfortable with. While his acting is fine, his singing is less successful.
I’m not sure why the choreography by Misha Shields is so repetitive; but if I saw the ensemble dance on and throw petals or leaves in the air to indicate the change of seasons one more time I might have screamed.
The real star of this show is the Snow Goose, designed by Nicholas Mahon. It is handled creatively and beautifully by Leah Hofmann, head puppeteer. It truly seems alive; and Hoffman has an excellent goose sound. Actually, several puppets are used; the large snow goose, which for some reason has detachable wings, and smaller flying snow geese that are on sticks.
The show had some workshops prior to this full-blown production. It might’ve been better served by an interim stop such as a production at Goodspeed Terris Theater in Chester, before this main stage production. An interim production that was smaller in scale would have permitted the team to make some of the changes that I hope are taking place now.
As my friend (a director) was leaving the theater, his comment was that at least 30 minutes could easily be removed.
Tickets are available at Goodspeed.org.
This content is courtesy of Shore Publications and Zip06.com