Virginia Tech Department of Theatre and Cinema presents 'The Good Person of Szechuan'
BLACKSBURG, Va., Nov. 2, 2010 – The Department of Theatre and Cinema at Virginia Tech presents its second Mainstage production of the season with Bertolt Brecht's "The Good Person of Szechuan." Performances will be Nov. 5-6, 9-13, 16-18 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 6-7, 13-14 at 2 p.m. in Squires Studio Theatre on the Virginia Tech campus.
Third year Master of Fine Arts student Dor Cosby Atkinson directs this darkly comic piece of theater, which is one of German playwright Brecht's best-known parables. Into the impoverished city of Szechuan come three traveling gods, touring earth to find just one good person" They find Shen Te, a kind-hearted woman struggling to pay the rent. When a gift from the gods allows her to open a tobacco shop, her generosity is quickly abused and she invents a cutthroat male alter ego whose sole priority is business.
"The Good Person of Szechuan" meshes elements of Chinese opera, Brooklyn lingo, World War II-era socio-economic struggle, and gutsy cabaret-style songs. Original music by local musician Anna Roberts-Gevalt brings Brecht's rich lyrics to life in this modern translation.
The play was first performed in 1943. Brecht, a prominent playwright in the 20th-century theatre, is also well known for his works "The Threepenny Opera" and "Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny."
Tickets for reserved seating are $10 general and $8 senior/student and are available at the University Unions and Student Activities ticket office in Squires Student Center. For tickets, call (540) 231-5615 or order online.
Free parking is available after 5 p.m. in the Squires Lot, located at the corner of College Avenue and Otey Street, or the Shultz Hall Lot,located off Alumni Drive near the North Main Street campus entrance. Find more parking information online or call (540) 231-3200. Please allow extra time for parking.
Virginia Tech’s School of Performing Arts and Cinema, a unit within the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, is comprised of the Department of Music and the Department of Theatre and Cinema. The school’s mission is to elevate awareness and expand the impact of the shared creative experience through discovery, learning, and engagement. In addition to presenting more than 200 theatre productions, music recitals, and concerts each year, the school produces the annual Summer Arts Festival and maintains the university's artist registry.
- Susan Sanders
- 540-231-5200
- susansanders@vt.edu
