Crucible review: Unforgettable twists for The Good Person of Szechwan

The Good Person of Szechwan tears through the Crucible in a way that leaves the audience reeling with delight while still scratching their heads at exactly what they have just experienced.

If ever a production was of its time, this is yet - despite it being 80 years since Bertolt Brecht wrote the play.

The key question remains true to this day, perhaps truer than ever: "What is the cost of being good?"

In the hustle and bustle of a modern-day metropolis, it's a dog-eat-dog world and Shen Te is doing all she can to get by.

When three gods reward her hospitality with a life-changing sum of money, Shen Te opens a tobacco shop and claims the stability she's always dreamed of. But the struggle is not over yet. Forced to question the cost of her own survival, she resorts to scheming and deceit to flourish in a capitalist world. Would any of us do anything differently in an era dominated by a cost of living crisis, strikes across key industries and a discontent with a growing divide between the have and have nots?

The casting is brilliant. The singing, at times, awful - and I'm still trying to work out which bits were meant to be tuneless or if somewhere accidentally so. The journey, memorable.

This is a very clever production, to the minute and completely crazy.

At points it reaches levels of daftness which are baffling. At others, the messages it gives weight heavy on the shoulders of an audience living through the capitalist turmoil that is 2023.

The moral of the story? Well, they completely refuse to give one. Make up your own, do things your way and maybe, just maybe, try to do a little good? But then again, you might not even know what that means by the end of this spectacular theatrical twister.

The Good Person on Szechwan is at the Crucible until Saturday (April 1). Leave expectations at home and buckle up for a ride that stays with you long after you leave.