The G.O.A.T., or Who Is Ximone?

When the Phenomenal Four arrive in Stockholm for the 2020 Summer Olympics, they feel the world is at their feet. After all, they’ve got the Greatest of All Time (G.O.A.T.), Ximone, to lead them to gymnastics glory. But when second-best Dougy starts having visions (of Tonya Harding & Nancy Kerrigan, no less!), the seed of sabotage is planted. Will the team be able to stick the dismount of competition, or will they fall from grace?
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The G.O.A.T., or Who Is Ximone?

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  • Kevin Blair:
    10 May. 2023
    Thomson really hits the beam hard with this fictional USA gymnastics team. The ensemble bits move this script along so well, throwing us from tense competition to giggling gossip. This play made me question what is worth your time and effort, what is a team, and what it takes to win? I love the toxic relationship with Ximone's mother, and how that manifests in nerve-racking dreams. I'm excited see a full production!
  • Nick Malakhow:
    28 Jul. 2021
    A dynamic and funny ensemble piece that marries emotionally rich and human characters with ever so slightly heightened, sharp dialogue. Thomson explores, with an eye towards race and intersectionality, the ways women in sports are commodified, objectified, unhealthily idealized, and pitted against one another. To see examples of the teammates both overcoming these socio-cultural obstacles and falling down at their hand gives us a dose of warmth well-balanced with difficult truths.
  • Shaun Leisher:
    1 May. 2020
    Young women in sports seems to have become a big genre of new work in the past couple years so it was nice to read such a fresh take on it. This play is about betrayal and ambition but also about the kindness and love that can be found between people on a team. These characters are so fleshed out and I can’t wait to see actors take them on.

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