Little Gou and the Standing Engagement

Little Gou and the Standing Engagement is not my usual audio fare; it actually bears more than a passing resemblance to Fruits Basket, in that it takes an Eastern mythology (in Fruits Basket’s case Japan, in Little Gou’s case, China) and makes it Westernized/accessible to a wider audience in a charming, user-friendly way.  I had a bit more trouble getting into Little Gou than Fruits Basket, though they are both parts of series.

Little Gou (pronounced “Go”) is a 17^th century Chinese martial artist and a bit of a rogue (think D’Artagnan for a comparison).  As voiced by Robyn Paterson (who has written and produced the plays), Gou is appealing.  His sidekick, an unlikely warrior nun named Sister Cat (I’m unclear whether she actually is a cat) is the perfect foil, and to hear them arguing about Gou’s gambling debts or Sister Cat’s pacifist dilemmas is an amusing audio experience.  She is voiced by Fiona Thraille, a frequent contributor to Women in Audio Drama Group on Facebook.  

I got a bit lost in this particular story, but it had a nice pace and was very imaginative.  The music and sound effects were found in libraries and it’s assumed the recording was done the normal amateur audio way (ie each actor recorded his/her lines separately and then the producer mixed it).  Despite this, it does have a rather spontaneous feel to it, even if Sister Cat is rocking a somnambulant British accent and Gou is sounding pretty North American. 

I will certainly listen to some of the other plays to see where Gou’s swashbuckling takes him.