The Good Person of Szechwan

On Thursday night I went an saw the second year theatre students' production of Brecht's The Good Person of Szechwan.

The story goes that the gods are on earth, looking for good people, and aren't having much luck. They arrive in Szechwan Province, in China, looking for somewhere to rest. The only person who gives them hospitality is Shen Te, a prostitute. As payment for Shen Te's hospitality, and because she is the first good person the gods have managed to find, they give her a large sum of money. It's enough for her to buy a tobacco shop and earn an 'honest' living.
However, because of her kindness and new wealth, Shen Te is expolited by the rich and poor. She finds that the only way she can look after herself is to create an alter ego. She disguises herslef as Shui Ta, a male cousin who is unsympathetic to other people's needs.

Some Christians have been upset by this play because the gods are portayed as being quite naïve and not very helpful. I expect that Brecht chose to portray them like this to show that we shouldn't just expect a Deus ex machina, or divine intervention, to fix everything up. We have to take an initiative ourselves. ('If God will Send His Angels')
They are also upset because Brecht implies that it's not possible to be a good person and survive - being good will kill you. It's not possible for us to live as God would like us too. But I think this is quite consistent with Christian teaching. In Romans 7, Paul admits that we aren't able to keep the law, but are dependent on God's grace.