Cappies Review: St. Stephen's + St. Agnes' 'The Good Woman of Setzuan'

PHOTO (from left to right): Mary Margaret Lehmkuhler, Sasha Koch, Julie Newman, Lily Smith/photo by Susan K. Hamon

Review by GRACE JENKINS of Westfield High School

ALEXANDRIA, VA -- Glistening rain falls as two lovers elegantly speak to one another as they huddle together in the cold. They discuss life as it is making the audience think deeply. The girl hides the pain she holds as her mind battles itself. The battle of good and evil taking place in the mind of one young girl, Shen Te. The beauty and placidness of "The Good Woman of Setzuan" is brought to reality by St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School. The audience receives a lesson from the characters themselves.

"The Good Woman of Setzuan," sometimes called "The Good Person of Setzuan," was written by Bertolt Brecht, a playwright famous for creating the style of Theatre called "Epic Theatre." It was first performed in 1943. The play follows Shen Te as she deals with understanding good and evil and trying to please the gods. The play focusses on good and evil as the main theme, with none of the characters taking up only one of these descriptions.

Though at times the production was slow, the passion and beauty was well portrayed. All the characters had distinct personalities, even when one actor/actress portrayed multiple characters. At all times, characters were doing something and interacting with the scene. All of the performers worked well with the minimalist style set and had lovely movements that matched their characters.

Sasha Koch, who portrayed the title character Shen Te, brought the emotion to life. She brought two distinct personalities to life as her main character Shen Te pretended to be a man of the name Shui Ta. The audience was drawn into her battles and struggles. She drew empathy, fear, worry, and love out of the audience. Julia Burke, who portrayed Wong the "narrator" in a way, helped give the story a light hearted essence. She helped the audience connect and made the audience think more about what they were to see.

The story involved three gods who help decide good and evil. The gods, portrayed by Julie Newman, Lily Smith and Mary Margaret Lehmkuhler, all had extremely distinct personalities. The three played off each other well to create a humorous banter and lovely energy. Shen Te's main love interest Yang Sun, was portrayed by Christian Corpening. Corpening had a variety of strong emotions break out throughout the play. He clearly displayed the emotions and brought the audience along with his journey.

The performance would not have been what it was without the set and sound. The set was beautifully designed as a slanted angled stage and wooden platforms attached to poles to be doors, windows, and walls for the unique performance. A flute and piano were used throughout the production to provide a dreamy and far away essence. The special effects were phenomenal. There was a fairly long period of the play that was portraying a rainy evening. Actual water was used for the rain. The lights and sound and set all worked together to create and elegantly lovely setting, bringing the performance to another level.

The entire show was done well to make the audience think more about good and evil. Characters did their job to get the message across and the whole scenery/setting assisted in getting the audience into the performance. Altogether, the production turned out well and worked out so the audience had a lovely dream-like experience.