“Once upon a time, there was a princess born to a king and queen who were banished from the island of Ériu and forced to flee to America in a coffin ship.”
So begins the true, award-winning story of former New York City call girl Mary Goggin in “Runaway Princess: A Hopeful Tale of Heroin, Hooking and Happiness” — revealing the truths of her traumatic Irish Catholic upbringing, her alcoholism, drug addiction, abuse and prostitution — playing in Tina McGuire Theatre at the Wortham Center in downtown Asheville, March 6–8 at 8 p.m.
The multitude of characters she encountered in her journey from utter darkness to absolute joy spring to life in this one-woman tour de force — all told with dark humor, unflinching honesty and unsentimental pathos.
Fortunately, like all fables, there is a happy ending. As critics at the 2022 Edinburgh Festival put it: “As we peel away the last layer of a broken woman who never felt she fit in, we find the princess, reunited at last with her most precious treasures. A tale of hope that deserved to be shared.”
Six months after the death of her mother, Goggin wrote “Runaway Princess.” Workshopped in early 2017 at Matt Hoverman’s “Go Solo,” the show premiered — and sold out — later that year at Solocom at The PIT. Under the direction of Dan Ruth, “Runaway Princess” moved Off Broadway to United Solo (Theater Row) in September 2018, where it won “Best Storyteller” and “Critics Choice.” From there, the performance took off around the world, landing in the coveted Edinburgh Fringe in 2022.
Goggin’s parents emigrated from Ireland to the Bronx, New York, where Mary was born in the 1950s. After becoming a successful actor on stage and in film, Goggin decided to share her true life story “to shock people into humanity,” she says. Sharing her secrets gives others permission to share theirs, resulting in true connections. It is a mission to promote healing from the stigma of addiction, from violence against women — addressing bullying, overeating, generational differences, prostitution, the shame of being an alcoholic mother.
