Robyn Malcolm is stepping back from the screens and onto the stage for her performance in Bertolt Brecht’s Good Soul of Szechuan.
The play, which opens to the public this Saturday at Auckland’s Q Theatre, explores the line between good and evil.
Malcolm plays dual roles of Shen Te who she calls a “tart with a heart” and Shui Ta (“a total hardass”).
The play is set in a geographical combination of China and post-earthquake Christchurch, says Malcolm.
“So we’re in a devastated part of the world that is racked with poverty. Three gods appear and need somewhere to stay the night but no one will take them in because everyone is too poor.”
Prostitute, Shen Te, offers some hospitality and in return is gifted money. As a way to help her world she buys a tobacco shop.
“But because she’s surrounded by incredibly poor people who are only interested in their own survival she gets taken for a ride and her goodness is exploited.”
To survive she creates an alter-ego – her cousin, Shui Ta.
“He comes in and kicks everybody out and runs the business successfully,” says Malcolm.
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