Synopsis

The gods come to earch in search of a thoroughly good person. They hit on Shen The, a good-hearted but penniless prostitute. But in order to muster sufficient ruthlessness to survive in an evil world, she has to disguise herself as a man. The gods return to heaven leaving Shen Teh's dilemma unresolved. This famous parable was written on the eve of the Second World War and first produced in Zurich in 1943. However the first production by Brecht's own company, the Berliner Ensemble, came only after his death. This translation, by John Willett, has been revised for this edition and equipped by him and Ralph Manheim, the joint editors of Brecht's Collected Plays in English, with Brecht's own notes and relevant texts, as well as with extensive editorial commentary on the genisis of the play.