Bertolt Brecht started considering the qualities of a good person in 1939 just before the outbreak of World War II. In all, it took him the best part of three years to come up with his finished product dealing with thistheme: "The Good Person of Setzuan," a play in which he deals with the idea that in an aggressive society, good can only survive as a result of evil.
"The Good Person of Setzuan" is part of the New National Theater's season in Hatsudai. The popular television star Takako Matsu plays the essentially good Shen Te, a poor prostitute who winds up disguising herself as an evil, money-grabbing male cousin, Shui Ta, in order to cover up problems resulting from her goodness.
When three Gods arrive in a city in Setzuan, they look for a place to spend the night, but no one can help them except the young girl Shen Te. The next day the Gods pay Shen Te with silver coins which she uses to open a tobacco shop. Hearing of her good fortune, various groups of people turn up on her doorstep claiming to be distant relatives seeking shelter.
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