Good (Modern Plays): A Tragedy

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a b c d e f g Clive Barker; Simon Trussler (April 1993). New Theatre Quarterly 33: Volume 9. p.44. ISBN 9780521448123 . Retrieved 8 January 2017.

The drama centres on an urbane literature professor John Halder, based in Frankfurt, who is “good” in every obvious way: a respected academic and a kind family man, who cares for his aged mother, who has dementia, as well as his wife and children. When the National Socialists start spouting anti-Semitic hate, he reassures his best friend, Jewish psychiatrist Maurice, that it’s just a way to distract the public — nothing to worry about. In 2003, 22 years after the play's premiere, Miriam finally secured the rights. Her former classmate, Jason Isaacs, signed on to be one of the film’s executive producers, and Viggo Mortensen, who had been very impressed by the play when visiting London as a young actor in 1981, agreed to play the lead. The film was shot entirely on location in Budapest in 2007. It has to be said however, simply reading the piece isn’t enough. There is so much music that is key to the play that, to read a title and artist without knowing the tune, none of which I did, dilutes Taylor’s efforts. But it is a script at the end of the day so reading will only take you so far.Good is a play about the causes rather than the consequences of Nazism, about morality and seduction. It explores how a "good" man gets caught up in the intricate web of personal and social reasons why the average person might be seduced in to what we see as abhorrent. The author thus rejects the view that the Nazi atrocities are explained as a result of the simple conspiracy of criminals and psychopaths. Furthermore, the lessons of Nazism and the play are not just about the revulsion resulting from six million dead but are also a warning about popular movements that lead to holocausts. Not judgmental of its protagonist, Good invites us to question just what a "good" man is and does and where the bounds of responsibility lie. [3] Here’s our guide to what makes this such an impactful play, its history, and what we can expect from this run of Good with David Tennant. But it grows in power, and Tennant really is terrific. As I said, the man knows a thing or two about portraying evil; his performance is perfectly judged. He never tries to sell us John as a nice guy: the emptiness is always there. I’ll be honest and say it feels a little familiar– I think you probably do feel a little more detached, a little less certain about things as you hit middle age. It’s disturbing that John doesn’t care enough about those he professes to love to try and save them; but it’s equally disturbing that he has so little investment in the murderous regime that he is a part of. Is he an unusual case? =CP Taylor’s most chilling inference is that we all might be susceptible to fascism if our society turns fascist. A story about a liberal-minded university professor who drifts well-meaningly into a position in the upper reaches of the Nazi administration, Good is a profound and alarming examination of passivity and the rationalisation of evil. Genuinely not wishing to be glib about it, but there is something fascinating about the way in which David Tennant has devoted so much of his post-‘Doctor Who’ career to exploring different aspects of human evil. From terrifying Marvel villain Kilgrave to serial killer Dennis Nilsen and his recent turn as a toxic vicar in ‘Inside Man’, at this stage it’s difficult to imagine this is simply him trying to avoid typecasting.

Orme, Steve. "Theatre review: And a Nightingale Sang at New Vic, Newcastle-under-Lyme (2010)". British Theatre Guide . Retrieved 18 December 2020. The imaginary doctor man is missing the mark. Delivering a simple idea of what the words are saying. The masterstroke of Taylor’s play is that instead of separating people into good and bad, heroes and villains, he shows the potential in a seemingly decent man for corruption. The Nazi Party spies the moral flaws, like vanity and detachment, in Halder, and they exploit those qualities, until Halder is at a point where he is committing atrocities but intellectually rationalising them. Yet he doesn’t seem like a monster when we meet him. Taylor was born on 6 November 1929 in Glasgow and grew up in the Crosshill district of Govanhill, in a politically radical Jewish family with strong ties to the Labour Party. [2] His parents had immigrated from Russia. [3] He left school at 14 and began his working life as a radio and television repairman.This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. By the late 1970s, Taylor became increasingly involved with the Live Theatre Company in Newcastle, which premiered several of his plays, among them Some Enchanted Evening (1977), Bandits (1977), Operation Elvis (1978), And a Nightingale Sang (1978) – a bitter-sweet comedy set in wartime Tyneside – and The Saints Go Marching In (1980 – later known as Bring Me Sunshine, Bring Me Smiles'). [2] People don't go to psychiatrists to streamline their lives... they go to free themselves from agony." In 1998, it secured joint 85th place in the Royal National Theatre's Survey of the "Most Significant Plays of the 20th Century". [7] A year later, Michael Grandage directed in its original theatre a new successful play in two acts, with Charles Dance playing John Halder, Ian Gelder as Maurice, and Faith Brook as Halder's mother. [8] The London Evening Standard described the event "one of the most powerful, politically pointed nights at the theatre." [4]

St. Louis News and Events | Riverfront Times". www.riverfronttimes.com. Archived from the original on 1 February 2013 . Retrieved 27 January 2022. It follows John Halder (Tennant), a liberal German professor with a Jewish best friend – Elliott Levey’s Maurice – and a fragile wife – Sharon Small’s Anne – plus sundry extra characters played by Levey and Small. The action begins in Frankfurt, 1933, as John and Maurice try to convince each other that Nazi antisemitism will burn itself out soon. Maurice is scared; John simply finds it illogical. Havant's Bench Theatre has taken on the challenge of this thoughtful play. There were signs of hesitation and unease among some of the principal actors, but Halder who is almost constantly on stage, is a perfect vehicle for David Penrose. His total confidence and talent for irony make it all fall into place. The set ingeniously gets round the limitations of the Old Town Hall space in accommodating a sizable cast, instant switches of scene, and five onstage musicians who punctuate the action with ironic musical footnotes. David Tennant will return to the West End in a new production of the acclaimed play GOOD by C.P. Taylor. Olivier Award-winning director Dominic Cooke reimagines one of Britain’s most powerful, political plays. Starring Olivier Award-winning Elliot Levey ( Cabaret), with further cast to be announced.

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best plays of the Century". National Theatre. Archived from the original on 10 May 2012 . Retrieved 11 May 2012. In 1967 he married Elizabeth Screen, with whom he also had two children, David and Catheryn. [4] [5] Shortly after their marriage, he and Elizabeth settled at the village of Longhorsley in Northumberland, where he lived until his death on 9 December 1981. He is buried in St. Helen's Church graveyard in the village. [4] His death from pneumonia has been attributed to his habit of writing in his garden shed.

Listen... What it could be... Is nothing I touch real? ... Is it? My whole life like that... I do everything, more or less, that everybody else does... But I don't feel it's real. Like other people. On the other hand, it could be other people feel the same thing."

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The play has been performed by many regional theatre companies, including the Havant Arts Centre in 1986, [9] the North Wall Arts Centre in 2008, [10] the Hilberry Theater in 2010, [11] the Royal Exchange Theatre, [12] Everyman Theatre, Cardiff in 2011, [13] and the Burning Coal Theatre Company in 2013. [14] The first half is like an extended therapy session, with scenes threaded together by Halder narrating his feelings to his Jewish friend Maurice (Elliot Levey, pictured below right, wonderfully full of gesture and verve). Maurice is a psychoanalyst, and he and Halder are endlessly diagnosing themselves. At this early stage, Halder’s worst crime is talking about himself too much. Tennant’s performance is genius, affable and slightly bumbling, his natural Scottish accent promoting the air of incongruous sincerity around Halder. Whether John Halder (David Tennant) was ever a good man in the first place is certainly up for debate, but that’s how he presents himself anyway. This is pre-war Germany, and as a literary professor in Frankfurt, specialising in Goethe, Halder cares for his aging mother while trying to provide for his wife and children, whom he later leaves for a student. Some of my best friends are Jewish but... six million of them still ended up in the gas chambers. C P Taylor's 'Good' shows how a decent, intelligent man whose best friend is a Jew could not only be seduced into joining the Nazis, but justify to his conscience the terrible actions which his position as an SS Officer demands. If ever there were a dire warning to woolly liberals, this is it - for Professor John Halder's agile intellect and his capacity to see the good in everyone are his own undoing. The new production at the Harold Pinter Theatre stars David Tennant. The Scottish star is of course known for screen work like Doctor Who, Broadchurch, There She Goes, Staged, Good Omens and Inside Man, but is also an accomplished stage actor. His past theatre work includes The Pillowman at the National Theatre, Hamlet and Richard II for the RSC, and Much Ado About Nothing and Don Juan in Soho in the West End.