The Play’s the Thing with Amber and John Good

 

Most of us would think that ultimate success for an actor would be starring in a blockbuster film or being the toast of Broadway.

 

And most of us would be wrong. Because what any true actor will honestly tell you is that it’s simply being able to do the work. And do it well, of course. The rest is nice, but it really doesn’t matter.

 

Amber McDonald Good and her husband John Good – both consummate actors with strong pedigrees and long professional resumes – are that kind of actor. Their love of good theatre is obvious when you talk to them, and their joy and satisfaction with delivering solid performances is unmistakable on a stage.

You can see that joy as Amber and John are starring together in John Patrick Shanley’s hit play “Outside Mullingar”, currently at the Red Barn Theatre in Key West Sundays through Tuesdays through April 14.

 

Not that they each haven’t tasted the other kind of success.

 

Amber – who graduated from Boston University’s School of Theatre and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art – has had a solid career in Hollywood, with roles in big films (“Hide and Seek” with Robert DeNiro and “Aquaman” among them) and small (“You Tell Me” and “Without A Paddle”) and recurring roles in television giants like “Law and Order: SVU”, “Smallville”, “Conviction” and “As The World Turns”.

 

John built his reputation in New York, with lauded roles in Off-Broadway hits like “Territory”, “33 to Nothing”, “Losing Ground”, “Peter and Vandy”, and “What Happened Was”, the latter two of which were turned into films John starred in that went on to win honors at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival.

 

So with careers in an upward trajectory, why leave them for Key West?

 

“First, to raise our own family,” Amber said. “That’s why we moved back here. But we also knew there’s always been good theatre here. L.A. is all about film and TV, so it was nice to get back to a place where theatre is nurturing and you know everybody. So I didn’t feel I was giving up any opportunities.”

 

And there was extended family here too. Amber’s parents are Mimi and Gary McDonald, two of the founders of the Red Barn Theatre. Amber made her professional debut at age 6 months in her parent’s production of Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire” near the beginning of the Red Barn’s remarkable 35-year run.

 

“And I like stage acting in a place like the Red Barn,” John said. “It’s intimate, and you can actually do ‘film’ acting on stage because people are close enough that you can do nuance and not have to be so broad. It’s like film, but you have the continuity of stage acting. It’s really thrilling.”

 

“Outside Mullingar” is a gorgeously ‘small’ play too. John and Amber play Anthony Reilly and Rosemary Muldoon, two somewhat lost Irish souls trying to deal with the isolation of their lives and the inherited problems of their parents. The chemistry between them is electric, and their performances completely enthralling.

 

“It has a lot of heart without being too sappy,” Amber said. It’s not really talking about an idealistic love – people have flaws and it’s talking about how to accept people flaws and all, and how love can fit into all of that.”

 

It’s a very sweet play, according to John, but what makes it work for him is working with Amber. “You can really trust one another. I don’t have to pretend to like her. I look over at her and I get so much. And working with Tom Murtha and Chris Stone – we’ve all been working together for 30 years – it’s all second nature. Completely believable and thoroughly satisfying.”

 

Which is enough for skilled actors like Amber and John. The rest is just the icing.

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