Pelham Bay actress performs solo tale of redemption
BRONX TIMES R 22 EPORTER, MARCH 8-14, 2019 BTR
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BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
A local actor who was able to overcome
addiction to go onto a successful
career on television now has a one
woman show chronicling her journey.
Mary Goggin, a Pelham Bay local
and working actress for two decades,
overcame an addiction to heroin and
is now staring in a one-woman show
about her recovery that she would
like to perform in the borough.
Goggin is the author and performer
of the play, based on her own
experiences, called ‘Runaway Princess:
A Hopeful Tale of Heroin, Hooking
and Happiness’ that is being
performed at the FRIGID New York
festival through Sunday, March 10.
She said that it chronicles her
Actress Mary Goggin of Pelham Bay has written
and is staring in her own one-woman
show. She grew up in Throggs Neck.
Photo courtesy of Mary Goggin
growing up in Throggs Neck before
when it was less developed and her
subsequent plunge into a world of
drugs and prostitution before ultimately
coming clean and winning a
hard-earned sobriety.
The Bronx is a character in the
play, with places like the Throggs
Neck waterfront and a sunken boat
offshore, a candy store at Miles and
East Tremont avenue, and an overpass
over the Throgs Neck Expressway
where she fi rst tried drugs all
making appearances in the performance
–named or unnamed.
While much of the material is
gritty, she hopes that viewers fi nd
an uplifting message of redemption,
as the character reunites with her
daughter and mother after years of
estrangement.
“I hope people take away some
hope, especially with the opioid crises
and more people addicted to heroin,”
said Goggin, adding her desire
that people view the show as honest
and funny.
Rather than wait for someone to
write a role for her that encapsulated
many of her experiences, she decided
to write the play herself, said Goggin,
who has been sober for over 30
years.
She is eager to fi nd a venue to perform
Runaway Princess, which has
only minimal props and the actor’s
own presence, in the borough.
“I would love to fi nd a theater in
the Bronx and do this show here,”
said Goggin, adding “It would be
great to encourage recovery and
healing in the Bronx.”
Mary Goggin offers the a story of the gritty underbelly of life and a recovery, partially set in
the borough. Photo courtsy of Mary Goggin
The is a view of a scene from the one woman
show. Photo courtsy of Mary Goggin