The Fairy That Got Away: An Interview with Puck
By Matthew Hardwick
In the damp summer shade of a green meadow, one might expect to find a fae trickster flitting among lavender and zinnias. Fairies are a beloved myth, one that speaks to our inner child, a love of magic, and a longing to be free. But how does that translate to the stage?
“The beauty of acting is that you get to play around,” said Jahi Gooding, the actor taking on the role of Puck in the SCAD Atlanta’s production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Puck, the trickster fairy who works at the behest of Oberon, is one of the most memorable and beloved characters in the Shakespearean comedy. For Gooding, the character happens to be a long-lost friend.
Puck, also known as Robin Goodfellow, serves as the grease that pushes the story’s plot forward. He is a trickster and a pot-stirrer that breaks the barriers of social convention. In the show, he spells various characters with a magical flower that beguiles them to fall in love with the first person they see, and disappears into the woods before they awake. But they aren’t the only ones he’s escaped.
“It’s a full circle moment,” Gooding said, laughing. At the time the COVID-19 pandemic hit, he was set to play Puck in his high school’s production of the play. Unfortunately, this meant his faerie never found its wings. Now, with SCAD’s “Shakespeare in the Court“ on the horizon, Gooding finally has the chance to become the trickster on stage that he always was in real life.
“I’m known to be a liar,” said Gooding. He talked about how there’s a joy of being able to tell “little white lies,” whether that’s putting on a fake accent or giving a wrong birthdate, because without a little chaos life can seem a little boring. There never was a moment that he wanted to give up his agency, his empathy, or his ability to have fun.
For Gooding, acting is something innate and magical. He eagerly talked about how he came to SCAD as a sequential artist but changed his creative focus after working on “Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind,” SCAD’s take on the famed long-running show originated by The Neo-Futurist Theater. He became invested in the local acting scene and is now co-president of the SCAD Atlanta Black Box Theatre Club. For him, acting is when he can truly be himself, easily slipping in and out of the spotlight. But he makes sure to never take life too seriously.
Growing up, Gooding watched his mom switch from her love of fashion design to pursue being a realtor. He saw the regret that she had and made a vow to himself to live life without remorse. For him, that means being able to choose to play, have fun, and experiment with his craft of acting; to live life puckishly. And now, years later, with the role of Puck coming back to him, he knows he’s right where he’s meant to be.
“I continue to play with humans,” said Gooding, basking under the fluorescence of the room as if it was a beaming spotlight. “I seek them out. To make them laugh. To make them uncomfortable. To bring something new to them, something they don’t understand. Which is me.”
