The Good Woman of Setzuan
at St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School

Reviewed on November 11, 2016

Mary.Margaret Chalk
Langley High School
Submitted for publication to Cappies News

"No one can be good and stay good"


In a culture of impoverished city dwellers and hungry families, survival matters most—often even more than human goodness. St. Stephens and St. Agnes School confronts the grave difficulty of ensuring a balance of both doing well for oneself and living well for a greater-good in its thoughtful production of The Good Woman of Setzuan.


Written by Bertolt Brecht in 1941, The Good Woman of Setzuan possesses a strong degree of ambiguity regarding its setting and period, leaving interpretation up to the audience. This same ambiguity is present throughout the actions of Shen Te, a generous woman who doubles as a prostitute and is the focal point of the story. Shen Te, called "the angel of the slums" by multiple neighbors, takes in the homeless, gives more than she has means to give, and tries to believe in the goodness of others. Her own goodness, however, leads those surrounding her to take advantage of her kindness. In defense of herself, Shen Te takes on the disguise of a cold man called Shui Ta to carry out business requiring a firm hand. Shen Te's embodiment of two conflicting personas is symbolic of a greater dilemma that questions what defines a human as "good" in the first place.


Rather than full lights opening the show to brightly illuminate a set, shadows consumed the stage during the first moments the city of Setzuan came to life. The murkiness of these shadows remained throughout the story, as choices between right and wrong would hold no definitive answer.


Dedication of actors was crucial to the show's success. Shen Te, played by Sasha Koch, provided vulnerability and drive to the story. Koch handled the transition from the kind Shen Te to the frigid Shui Ta with ease and nuance making Shen Te's reluctance to become a person of selfishness subtly apparent. A water seller named Wong (Julia Burke) reflected on lessons of both Shen Te's and the community's current situation through direct narration. Burke's frustration and fear bubbled out of character's tattered persona and helped to evoke sympathy from every audience member. To contrast the serious nature of most characters, a wife (Audrey Shaw) and husband (Sam Stevens) latched onto Shen Te in a parasitic, yet humorous way. Stevens took the stage with conviction and Shaw consistently displayed facetious mannerisms casting a light on the otherwise dark emotional atmosphere. Although there were some pacing issues with line delivery, actors routinely spoke with clarity making up for some slow timing.


Special effects added tremendously to the nature of Setzuan. The stage was complete with a perfectly placed contraption that made actual rain during some of the gloomiest times of character struggles. The beauty of the soft drizzle was accompanied by a creative set that used rotating boards as doors and windows that added to the setting's ambiguity and minimalism. Live music further encapsulated the audience in the ambience of scenes. The technical team's efforts made The Good Woman of Setzuan an artful experience.


Today's society is captivated with worries of material nature. We are all guilty of forgetting to prioritize a greater good as what matters most. St. Stephen's and St. Agnes successfully reminded its audience of the importance of forgetting oneself for a moment to search for goodness and better the lives of those within reach.

Neeka Samimi
Washington Lee High School
Submitted for publication to Cappies News 2

Good versus evil--the world's greatest struggle. It also happens to be the central theme of Bertolt Brecht's play The Good Woman of Setzuan. St. Stephen's and St. Agnes's production of this show was electrifying. The stage was alight with moral dilemmas and an ultimately positive argument in favor of humanity.

The titular good woman of Setzuan is a prostitute named Shen Te. Although it seems as if her profession would prevent her from being pure, the three gods who visit Setzuan see the kindness in Shen Te's heart. So, they give her money to open a tobacco shop, hoping she'll stay true to her morals. This is what she does, even when the people around her take advantage of her generosity. To look out for herself, Shen Te assumes the alter ego of Shui Ta, who is supposedly her cousin. When things go awry, Shen Te is faced with the question of how to protect herself while helping others. Of course, such dilemmas are timeless, remaining relevant now, over seventy years after the play was written.

The production stayed true to Brecht's "Epic Theatre," breaking the fourth wall with gusto. The actors approached their roles with commanding stage presence. Technical aspects of the show were truly mesmerizing and incredibly creative. The set, in particular, was very striking and impressive. The addition of original piano and flute music added a lyrical flow to the production.

The actors of this production should be commended for their ability to fully embody their three-dimensional characters. Shen Te is a complicated character, and Sasha Koch did an excellent job of portraying the fiercely kind-hearted woman. Chemistry among all actors was believable and intense--one notable example of this was between Shen Te and her love interest, Yang Sun (Christian Corpening).

The entire cast lit up the stage. Comical moments of the show came courtesy of the lively Mrs. Shin (Gabby Sullivan), and the Husband (Sam Stevens) and Wife (Audrey Shaw). Unfortunately, due to the philosophical nature of Brechtian theater and the show's intentional awareness of the fourth wall, some lines of dialogue felt forced. However, the cast made up for this by their commanding stage presence. The acting was impressive in that all actors were sympathetic. The play unfolds to explain that no person is inherently bad. Those who become bad do so out of necessity, an idea very well-conveyed in the show.

Technical aspects of the show were truly marvelous and incredibly creative. The minimalist set had dynamic uses in every scene. Wooden pallets representing doors hung from corners of the stage. The imposing wooden floor jutted out from the stage itself. Costumes and makeup were delicate and bohemian, featuring bold, bright colors. The show-stopping facet, however, was certainly the rain. Water poured down from the ceiling through a PVC tube, collecting into an imperceptible gutter on the side of the stage. This immersed the audience into the show. The lighting was moody and symbolic, cleverly using warm colors to portray Shen Te as sympathetic, and colder colors to detach us from the gods.

In short, St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School's production of The Good Woman of Setzuan was remarkable because of its stunning visuals as well as its stark portrayal of goodness. Its persistently optimistic portrayal of the human spirit was inspiring.

Grace Jenkins
Westfield High School
Submitted for publication to Patch.com

Glistening rain falls as two lovers elegantly speak to one another as they huddle together in the cold. They discuss life as it is making the audience think deeply. The girl hides the pain she holds as her mind battles itself. The battle of good and evil taking place in the mind of one young girl, Shen Te. The beauty and placidness of The Good Woman of Setzuan is brought to reality by St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School. The audience receives a lesson from the characters themselves.

The Good Woman of Setzuan, sometimes called The Good Person of Setzuan, was written by Bertolt Brecht, a playwright famous for creating the style of Theatre called "Epic Theatre." It was first performed in 1943. The play follows Shen Te as she deals with understanding good and evil and trying to please the gods. The play focusses on good and evil as the main theme, with none of the characters taking up only one of these descriptions.

Though at times the production was slow, the passion and beauty was well portrayed. All the characters had distinct personalities, even when one actor/actress portrayed multiple characters. At all times, characters were doing something and interacting with the scene. All of the performers worked well with the minimalist style set and had lovely movements that matched their characters.

Sasha Koch, who portrayed the title character Shen Te, brought the emotion to life. She brought two distinct personalities to life as her main character Shen Te pretended to be a man of the name Shui Ta. The audience was drawn into her battles and struggles. She drew empathy, fear, worry, and love out of the audience. Julia Burke, who portrayed Wong the "narrator" in a way, helped give the story a light hearted essence. She helped the audience connect and made the audience think more about what they were to see.

The story involved three gods who help decide good and evil. The gods, portrayed by Julie Newman, Lily Smith, and Mary Margaret Lehmkuhler, all had extremely distinct personalities. The three played off each other well to create a humorous banter and lovely energy. Shen Te's main love interest Yang Sun, was portrayed by Christian Corpening. Corpening had a variety of strong emotions break out throughout the play. He clearly displayed the emotions and brought the audience along with his journey.

The performance would not have been what it was without the set and sound. The set was beautifully designed as a slanted angled stage and wooden platforms attached to poles to be doors, windows, and walls for the unique performance. A flute and piano were used throughout the production to provide a dreamy and far away essence. The special effects were phenomenal. There was a fairly long period of the play that was portraying a rainy evening. Actual water was used for the rain. The lights and sound and set all worked together to create and elegantly lovely setting, bringing the performance to another level.

The entire show was done well to make the audience think more about good and evil. Characters did their job to get the message across and the whole scenery/setting assisted in getting the audience into the performance. Altogether, the production turned out well and worked out so the audience had a lovely dream-like experience.

Emma Merrill
Teens and Theatre Company
Submitted for publication to Insidenova - Sun Gazette

Is it possible to maintain goodness in a world that is filled with evil? This moral question is central to Bertolt Brecht's intriguing play The Good Woman of Setszuan. The play tells of three gods who are relentlessly searching for some remainder of good in the world. They find Shen Te (Sasha Koch), a kindhearted prostitute who will do anything to help someone in need. The gods grant her a gift of two hundred silver dollars, and that's where the trouble starts. Shen Te establishes a shop that begins to thrive, but her well-meaning nature quickly threatens to ruin her. To prevent others from taking advantage of her, Shen Te poses as her own fictional cousin Shui Ta. Shui Ta is a cruel and cold man, and throughout the course of the play, she uses the other personality more and more until Shui Ta is accused of murdering her.

St Stephen's and St Agnes' spectacular performance of the Good Woman of Setszuan was beautiful and compelling. Sasha Koch played the lead role of Shen Te with a gracefulness that fit the character perfectly. As for Shen Te's cold cousin Shui Ta, Koch did a perfect job of keeping the two personalities separate and distinct. You could see the changes between characters clearly in Koch's posture, voice, and mannerisms. Koch's Shen Te moved fluidly and gently, where her Shui Ta was stiff and proud. There was a scene where Koch put her Shui Ta costume onstage, and as she put each costume piece on you could see her slowly change from Shen Te to Shui Ta.

Other actors that stood out were Julia Burke (Wong the water-seller), Julie Newman (God One), Lily Smith (God Two), Mary Margaret Lehmkuhler (God Three), and Christian Corpening (Yang Sun, a pilot). Julia Burke played the water-seller Wong and she did a great job of making the character sympathetic to the audience. Julie Newman, Lily Smith, and Mary Margaret Lehmkuler worked together well as the three Gods, and each gave their character a distinct personality. Finally, Christian Corpening as Yang Sun gave the audience a character who they had trouble hating despite the way he treated Shen Te.

The actors all had amazing performances, but these were only enhanced by the amazing work of the technical crew. From the beautiful music played throughout the play by Shannon Foster and Matthew Lu to the stunning lighting designed by Jack Dewhurst and Daniel Wozniak, every piece of the behind the scenes worked helped the play to flow smoothly. The set was designed and constructed by Bobbie Benjamin, Jack Dewhurst, and Patrick Hines. It was built out of wooden pallets and metal, creating a second stage upon the larger stage. This was tilted at an angle, giving the audience a different perspective when watching the actors. Then there were the special effects done by Alex Kramer, Daniel Wozniak, and Jack Dewhurst. Probably the most impressive part of this was the rain rig that they built. It was suspended above the tilted stage, sending real water down on the actors below. The design of the titled stage funneled the water into a gutter, which led to a bucket where the water was collected. The rain was lit up by LED lights to enable the audience to see it. It created a spectacular effect, and the only disappointing thing about it is that the rig was only used once.

Overall, The Good Woman of Setszuan was an impressive play that was beautifully executed by both the actors the and technical staff.

Emily Lachow
McLean High School
Submitted for publication to Alexandria Times

In the bustling town of Setzuan, full of grimy gray walls and brewing storms, can the kindness of a single good soul permeate the darkness? St. Stephen's St. Agnes School's rendition of The Good Woman of Setzuan used the immersive techniques of Brecht to reflect upon the conflicting sides of human nature.

Author Bertolt Brecht, acclaimed for his usage of societal reflection in his works, finished his composition of The Good Woman of Setzuan in 1941. With a musical score by Huldreich Georg Früh, the play was first performed in Switzerland in 1943, and was later translated to an English theatre in 1953. The story follows the journey of kindhearted Shen Te, who is forced to assume the identity of her fictional hard-headed cousin Shui Ta in order to save her tobacco shop. Brecht frequently breaks the fourth wall in this non-Aristotelian drama to ponder the essence of humanity.

As the compassionate Shen Te, Sasha Koch provided a captivating lead performance. Koch cleanly distinguished between Shen Te and Shui Ta, and her emotional evolution was apparent even as she shifted between the two characters. Her performance gave some of the most intimate moments of the production. Wong (Julia Burke) similarly embraced the intimacy of the piece. Her opening monologue gracefully welcomed the audience to the world of Setzuan, and thereafter, Burke deftly evoked sympathy through her consistent commentary. Exploring the harsher aspects of humanity was Christian Corpening as Yang Sun, Shen Te's primary love interest; Corpening approached his portrayal with witty banter and a passionate spirit.

Contributing some pleasant humor to the production was the Family of Four. The Husband (Sam Stevens) and Wife (Audrey Shaw) elicited laughter from the audience throughout the evening by portraying their characters with distinctly comedic mannerisms. The company as a whole worked cohesively and
dynamically to create an impactful performance.

Enhancing the actors' performances were the stellar technical elements. The student-composed score blended seamlessly with the story onstage, using dissonant chords to reflect the growing tension and airy tones to represent moments of ease. The set also allowed the major themes of the storyline to flourish. The bleak urban quality of Setzuan was displayed through a paint splattered, graffitied tarp. The wooden shipping pallets, used as both flooring and rotating panels, not only demonstrated the environment of the working class, but also proved to be a simplistic and versatile choice. Another memorable technical aspect was the special effects, most notably the rain that drizzled beautifully onto the stage, helping to intensify the intimate lulls of the piece.

St. Stephen's St. Agnes School's The Good Woman of Setzuan explored the essence of humanity with graceful performances and cohesively stunning technical elements. Their dedication to invoke self-reflection provided a captivating depiction of the perpetual war of good and evil.