Good (play)

Good is a

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]

Historical moments referred to in the play are included:

• January 1933 –
  Hitler
  took office
• May 1933 –
  University of Berlin^{[nb 1]}
• July 1934 – Murder of SA Leader Ernst Röhm (in the Night of the Long Knives)
• November 1938 – Shooting of Ernst vom Rath
• November 1938 – The night of the Broken Glass (the Anti-Jewish Pogroms)
• June 1941 – Nazi War against
  the Soviet Union
• June 1941 –
  Auschwitz
  .

Productions

Good was originally commissioned by

A 12-week production, starring David Tennant, began at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London's West End in October 2022. The play was originally scheduled to play for 10 weeks at the Playhouse Theatre with previews beginning 6 October 2020. However, the production was rescheduled twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[15][16] The play was filmed and broadcast in movie theaters beginning in April 2023.^[17]

Film adaptation

A film adaptation of the play, featuring Viggo Mortensen as John Halder and directed by Vicente Amorim, was released in December 2008.^[18]

Notes

References