The Good Soul of Szechuan***** (From Ealing Times)

The Good Soul of Szechuan*****

2:59pm Thursday 9th February 2012 in Reviews

Though this touring production was primarily an undertaking of Hertfordshire County Council Children's Services, and therefore many of the audience at Watford Palace Theatre were young people, it was well worth the while for anyone interested in 20th Century drama.

Bertolt Brecht, the influential German playwright, set this play in China. In the original German, the title is Der gute Mensch von Sezuan; as Shen Te, the chief character, is a woman, the usual translation is 'the good woman', but the words 'gute Mensch' really refers to humanity.

Leonie Spilsbury convincingly played the part of someone who lacks the conventional qualities of goodness but feels for people in their desperation, at the expense of commercial success in her small business. Like the rest of the cast of only four young actors, she had to play more than one part and play musical instruments. All the cast displayed brilliant versatility. Perhaps it was useful to Becky Barry, who played Wang and Mrs Shin, that she is also a sign language interpreter.

Brecht's style reduces the play to the bare bones of dramatic technique. There was no curtain and the house lights stayed on. Scenery was minimal. Minor changes of costume indicated changes of character.

The acting was modestly stylised: like the Chinese setting, it signified the characters' detachment as commentators on normal life.

When the play was written, about 1940, Hitler and the Nazis were in power in Germany, the communists had not taken over in China and Brecht was a refugee in the US. Then and now, many of its themes have been controversial: they include suspicion of big business, of the justice system, of economic policy, of austerity, of social turmoil. Today, we face Brecht's insights without the political dimensions of his own time.

To start the play, David Ahmad and Jack Wilkinson wore hard hats to signify that they were gods who came to survey the world. At the end, their verdict reminded us of questions that have troubled us since the early days of European civilisation. Why are some people called good? Does goodness lead to prosperity? Why do good people suffer misfortune?

David Harrower (translator and adapter), James Williams (director) and the cast are to be congratulated on succinctly putting over these issues.

Graham Mordue

The Good Soul of Szechuan comes to Trestle Arts Base, Russet Drive, St Albans on Wednesday, February 22 with performances at 2.30pm and 7.30pm.