It's Opening Night for Bertolt Brecht’s Good Person of Szechwan at the Public Theater

Can we practice goodness and create a world to sustain it? This is the theme of Bertolt Brecht’s Good Person of Szechwan, which opens October 29 at the Public Theater. Translated by John Willett and directed by Lear deBessonet, the off-Broadway production began previews on October 18 and is scheduled to run through November 24.

In this comic and complex play, one of Brecht's most entertaining characters, Shen Tei, the good-hearted, penniless, cross-dressing prostitute, is forced to disguise herself as a savvy businessman named Shui Ta to master the ruthlessness necessary to be a "good person" in a cruel world of limited resources.

The cast includes Kate Benson, Ephraim Birney, Vinie Burrow, Clifton Duncan, Jack Alan Greenfield, Brooke Ishibashi, Paul Juhn, Mia Katigbak, Lisa Kron, Taylor Mac, Mary Shultz, David Turner and Darryl Winslow, with original music by Cesar Alvarez and the Lisps.