AN EXERCISE IN ACTING, AND LIFE WRITER-ACTOR USES STAGE TO TELL OF EXPERIENCES IN AFRICA.

Byline: Carol Rock Staff Writer

HOLLYWOOD - Matt Gould has a noble cause: to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

He spent two years comforting and educating, teaching at a school in Mauretania as a Peace Corps volunteer. Just three months after graduating with a bachelor of fine arts degree from Boston University, the 1997 Hart High graduate left familiar soil and moved in with an African family that nicknamed him ``Mamadou.''

Now that he's back, he's sharing his experiences in the only way he knows how: on stage.

``The Time When I Was Mamadou'' tells the story of, as he puts it, ``a redheaded, gay, Jewish boy, which is basically me and three backup singers.

``It's sort of funny and touching. It's not your kitchen-sink drama and not for all ages or stomachs.''

Gould said the script included some political criticism and issues that not everyone may be comfortable hearing.

``I take on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and the way Americans choose to live their lives in a bubble from the world's issues,'' he said.

Gould joined the Peace Corps after graduating with a degree in theater from Boston University. He thought his destiny was life as an actor on Broadway or in a touring company, but something told him he needed more.

``When I got home a year ago, I was genuinely depressed about being an American,'' he explained. ``After living in a place that was so poor and impoverished, I was in a profession that values beauty, money and good looks. Those things aren't important in a place where all you're trying to do is eat.

``It gave me a kick-start because I knew I didn't want to just do theater anymore, but music and theater are the way I express myself. It seemed like the best way I could get moving, get out some anger and sadness and see if anyone responded.''

He's garnered response, both positive and negative, judging from published reviews. And he has been approached by some potential backers to take the show to the East Coast, to play off-Broadway.

The play is a ``think piece,'' where audiences don't usually leave humming the tunes. ``It requires audiences to look at themselves. I know the experience made me look at myself, and I didn't like everything I saw.''

Along with a greater awareness of the world situation, Gould got a big reality check during his time in Africa.

``I always thought I could do something great to change the world, but I learned you can't change the way people think or go into a country where people have lived a certain way for thousands of years and make things different. That's hard stuff, especially for an American. We think we can do anything because we live in the land of opportunity and the rest of the world should see things our way.

``People in Iraq have lived that way for a long time,'' he continued. ``White boys from America going in there and saying 'This is the way to do it' isn't going to change things overnight.''

Gould was in his senior year at Boston when he realized going straight to New York might not be his intended goal.

``Around the time they were digging up mass graves in Bosnia, when there was a second major holocaust on European soil in this century, they were finding thousands of bodies. I thought we were supposed to be helping other people,'' he said. ``The holocaust was happening again in another part of the world, I couldn't go to New York and be in 'Rent' and 'Ragtime' and 'Oklahoma' and have this happy-go-lucky existence with all this crap going on in the world.

``While I was there, I questioned whether I wanted to be an actor at all,'' he said. ``I might have stayed and worked with nongovernmental agency like CARE or Feed the Children, but what it comes down to is that I'm a freaking actor. Doing this play was the best way to combine both passions. Now I live in L.A., and I still hope I can do 'Rent' and 'Oklahoma.'

``Most people are not terrorists,'' he continued. ``Most people do not want to hurt anyone else. They want to eat, have some money, take care of their family and go to work.

``It's really only a couple of freaking lunatics that cause the problems. You can see that in our country, too. Just turn on the news.''

Carol Rock, [phone]

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com

IF YOU GO

WHAT: ``The Time When I Was Mamadou''

WHEN: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays

WHERE: Hudson Mainstage Theatre, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood

$25 per person. Not appropriate for age 16 and under, due to language and themes

RESERVATIONS: [phone]

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IF YOU GO (see text)