In Bertolt Brecht`s 1943 parable play, ”The Good Person of Setzuan,”
the word ”person” carries an androgynous ambiguity. The heroine, Shen Teh, is a kindhearted Chinese prostitute who discovers that, to protect the people who depend on her, she must disguise herself as a ruthless man.
As the ”man” (Shui Ta), sweet Shen Teh enjoys a latitude of action that her conscience had denied her. She learns that in an imperfect world goodness, far from being its own reward, requires a literal double-dealing. In ”The Good Person,” Brecht asks us why should this be necessary.
Playing Shen Teh/Shui Ta in veteran director Frank Galati`s Goodman Theatre revival is Cherry Jones (shown here in both roles). She comes fresh from a New York triumph: In Circle Rep`s ”The Baltimore Waltz,” she gave a heartbreaking and feverish performance as the tormented sister of a San Francisco man with AIDS.
Jones` Broadway credits include ”Our Country`s Good” and ”Macbeth.”
But these roles didn`t require the quick changes-of personality even more than of costume-of Brecht`s busy fable.
Jones wants her good woman/bad man to be true to both sides of Shen Teh.
”It`s tempting to let bits of Shen Teh slip through carefully into Shui Ta. Audiences may see a marriage of the two characters, but they won`t see the mask of one slip to reveal the other. When I play Shui Ta, it`s because I want to be him. And then Shen Teh is not a nice girl from the suburbs who has to stretch to create this alter ego. She`s a scrapper who grew up in the slums and has chosen her profession. It should be almost effortless for her to be shrewd and cunning and exercise a demonic power. The goodness is the part she`s had to work to achieve. She wants to be good, but it`s just too hard. But Shui Ta, a sexy charmer who can turn on a dime, has all the confidence she lacks. It helps too that when Shen Teh is a man the others treat her differently.”
”The Good Person of Setzuan” runs through May 30 at 200 S. Columbus Drive; 312-443-3800.
