Robert Wright sees a Bertolt Brecht classic which has a timeless resonance.
The Bury Theatre Workshop is an ambitious community theatre company which performs challenging productions throughout the year.
Although their current production has 17 cast members and numerous scenes, it definitely captured the dilemmas of how being a nice and good person does not always pay off. It is performed in parable form and is full of morals coupled with deviousness, greed with so many negative human traits thrown into the mix.
Trying to rise above it all is the poor young prostitute Shen Te whose belief in charity and goodness is full of innocence. Needless to say, she is taken advantage of. Julia Harman captured these features perfectly in that role.
Set in China and first performed in 1943 this Bertolt Brecht play is a thoughtful and well-disciplined production being highly relevant anywhere and at any time.
The play runs until Saturday January 27.
Robert Wright
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