In 1616 the English Bishop Godfrey Goodman wrote that nature was corrupt and sick, and that it was just a matter of time for her to come to an end. He was just one of the prophets of doom that in the early 17th century declared nature as terminally ill. They were all wrong of course, the world didn’t crumble, we’re still alive! Although the words of the bishop seem beyond recognition in their religiosity and their unscientific essence, they are very recognisable by the sentiments they express: The idea of a slow and long decay of nature, sickened by human arrogance.

Goodman speaks is a collaboration between Jana De Kockere (theatre maker and researcher at the Faculty of Philosophy (University of Ghent)) and  Ferre Vuye (theatre maker and performer). In their piece they take the ancient Godfrey Goodman to the theatre stage. Goodman is being used as a medium to provoke our own imagination. Do we secretly believe that global warming is a punishment for our sinfulness and is it the reason why we seem to accept this without resistance. Do we perceive the impending apocalypse as the ultimate revelation of who can be considered good or evil. What exactly is the kind of change we would like to see, how does our paradise then look like? Do we find consolation in te writings of Goodman,  are they a refuge in these pity times that for us, unbelievers, are no longer accessible? Who will die for our sins and who can still promise us a world without suffering?