The Good Woman of Setzuan

The Good Woman of Setzuan (Der gute Mensch von Sezuan) by Bertolt Brecht. (Also known as The Good Person of Setzuan) Originally written in German in 1942, performed in Santa Monica 1943. The first English translations by Eric Bentley (1956) and Johan Willet (1964).

Performance history in South Africa

Produced by Rosalie van der Gucht at the Little Theatre, Cape Town, March 1958 starring percy Sieff, Elizabeth Bennett, Chris van den Berg, Denice Donegan, Phyllis Schaffer, Karl Oettle, Louis Franks, Eugene Rakoff, Hymie Gien, Viv Rakoff and Tony Puma.

Leonard Schach directed the play for the East Rand Theatre Club for its twenty-first birthday in 1965. Decor and costumes by Chris van den Berg. The cast were Alan Brooke, Denice Etherington, Stanley Hill, Ethel London.

Translations and adaptations

Translated into Afrikaans as Die Goeie Mens van Setzuan and first produced by ***. Presented by PACOFS in 1974, directed by William Egan, starring Ernst Eloff, Annelize van der Ryst and Francesca Bantock.

Translated by Johann van Heerden from the original German into Afrikaans (Die Goeie Mens van Sezuan), for production by students of the Drama Department at Stellenbosch University in 1976. Directed by Van Heerden.

Janet Suzman wrote a radically adapted version of it, setting the play in South Africa (London, 19**?), titled The Good Woman of Sharkville.

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good_Person_of_Szechwan

PACOFS Drama 25 Years, 1963-1988

Inskip, 1977. p 128

Return to

Return to G in Plays II Foreign Plays

Return to South_African_Theatre/Plays

Return to The ESAT Entries

Return to Main Page