Good Person Of Szechuan, The

 Bertolt Brecht's The Good Person of Szechuan invites and receives an "un-Brechtian" produc tion at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, yet the playwright's ironic comments on human exploitation of one class by another come through clearly. Here, Brecht mixes his commentary with melodrama. The Oregon production puts broad comedy, even slapstick, into the mix.

The named setting is Szechuan province in China. Brecht intended it to symbolize any place were people are exploited. Three gods, "Enlightened Ones," appear to Wong (Michael J. Hume), a water seller. The three are looking for a good person, who will show generosity by taking them in. Wong finds lodging for them with a prostitute, Shen Te (B.W. Gonzalez), whom the gods reward with $1,000. She uses it to open a tobacco shop. Now a tobacco merchant, Shen Te is moved to kindness when she sees a boy (Anthony James) eating garbage. When she shares with people, they begin expecting her to share more, even though all her money is invested. When she herself owes debts, those she can't pay are cast into poverty, such as Lin To, the carpenter (J.P. Phillips).

The barber, Mr. Shu Fu (Mark Murphey), has designs on Shen Te. When he gives her a blank check, she uses it to put the town to work. In the disguise of her ruthless cousin, Mr. Shui Ta, Shen Te gets results. As Shui Ta, she promotes Shen Te's faithless lover, Yang Sun (Michael Elich) into a position of authority. He increases production by overworking those he supervises. With Shui Ta on the scene, Shen Te is not in sight. People begin to think Shui Ta has done harm to his cousin. Gonzalez stands out in the dual role of Shen Te / Shui Ta. When Shen Te is in advanced pregnancy, Shui Ta's double-breasted business suits reflect his apparent weight gain.

Costume designer Smaranda Branescu worked with director Metropulos to protect Shen Te's masquerade believably. Gonzalez plays both sides of the role fully, though other parts are written as caricature and can hardly be helped being approached as such. Good Person is a play of contradictions. We see how contagious greed can be, crossing class lines, from the poor to the rich; how easy it is for people to begin to expect and demand what is at first offered as kindness. And we see how the profit motive of management can dehumanize the working class. Brecht began writing the play in 1938, completing it two years later. The first New York production was in 1956, the year of his death, with Uta Hagen as Shen Te and Zero Mostel as Mr. Shu Fu.

The Oregon production puts its own spin on the material, broadening the comedy, at times spoofing the melodrama, but delivering the message in a colorful wrapper. Music by Larry Delinger is appropriate and a definite asset. The company gives us Brecht's ending, which is an unanswered question, inviting the audience to fill in its own blanks.