Photo by Craig Ruttle
Reviewed by Amanda Halkiotis
Growing up with an alcoholic father, an evangelical Christian mother and an ailing older sister, Leslie Goshko has many the family anecdote. In her one-woman show Vodka Shoes, she shares a great deal of them with earnest, high-spirited energy. She doesn’t skimp on the details here, and nothing is off-limits. A sheepish grin spreads over her face as she admits that she uses her dog-catching techniques to retrieve her father when he joyrides around the neighborhood on his rider mower, “the Twirl.” A wave of wistful nostalgia washes over her face as she the privilege of licking the leftover batter from the spoon when baking cookies with her mother.
Each monologue seamlessly and energetically weaves into the next as comedy and catharsis collide and the audience gets pulled deeper and deeper into the formative years of Goshko’s childhood. When her life gets serious and she is forced to be the voice of reason—she takes a second job at a pizzeria that might be a mafia front and follows her mother’s lead in moving out of the house for a summer—Goshko’s head-spinning storytelling retains our attention.
Despite all the action-packed anecdotes, Goshko keeps her head above water, delivering an astounding performance with razor-sharp humor and unabashed bravery.
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Vodka Shoes (50 minutes)
Under St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place)
Tickets: $10
Performances: Sunday 3/7 @ 1pm
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