In search of goodness
Brittany McCarthy auditioned twice to get a role in The Good Soul of Szechuan.
For that effort, she was cast in two roles for the play at Thompson Rivers University — and that means she’s pretty much on stage all the time.
As the protagonist, Shen Te, in the Bertholt Brecht play, “I have to talk a lot,” McCarthy said.
“It’s exhausting. I’m pooped at the end.”
The play opens tonight at the Black Box Theatre on campus and continues to Nov. 24.
There are also performances Nov. 29 to Dec 1.
McCarthy also plays Shen Te’s alter-ego, Shui Ta in the play, a story of goodness — and the search for it — that takes a judgmental look at how good people are sometimes mistreated.
It’s the seventh consecutive play in which McCarthy, a fourth-year theatre-arts student, has performed.
“Brittany is the heart of Szechuan,” said teacher and director Heidi Verwey.
The Brecht play is a challenge to mount, Verwey said, not only because of the size of the cast — there are more than 30 parts — but in the simple reality it is a difficult play to perform.
Brecht was a believer in the concept of epic theatre, which requires the audience to interact with the characters and the story in a self-reflective way.
Verwey said she chose it “because I just want to have a good story and I wanted people to care about the story.”
McCarthy can relate to the desire to care about the story unfolding.
“I just want to scream at the way Shen Te is treated.”
Curtain is 8 p.m.
Tickets are $12 and can be purchased through the Kamloops Live Box Office, 1025 Lorne St., 250-374-5483, or by calling 250-377-610.
Tickets will also be sold at the theatre box office in the Old Main Building.
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