A woman becomes her own evil twin to survive capitalism. Brecht meets chaos.
In the search for a single good person in the province of Sezuan, three gods finally find only poor street girl Shen Te, whom they reward with a large gift of money. Now wealthy, Shen Te is now so exploited by all men that she has no choice but to slip into the shoes of her hard-hearted cousin, Shui Ta. Accused of murdering the missing Shen Te, the supposed Shui Ta confesses his dual role and the gods avoid a conviction. But Shen Te aka Shui Ta is now abandoned by all humans and also by the gods – helpless in the world.
Acting
Ursulyak's split-personality tightrope walk between Shen Te and Shui Ta
Direction
Butusov's Brechtian alienation that somehow still devastates
Production
Theatrical minimalism that forces you into the moral argument
Director
Yuriy Butusov
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Brecht wrote this in 1938 exile, watching fascism rise while liberals remained 'good' and useless. The gods abandoning Shen Te hits different now.
Butusov's production famously had the audience vote on endings during live runs. This filmed version locks in one particular despair.
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