Turandot

The Emperor of China is not happy. A bumper harvest has devalued his cotton shares and drained the imperial coffers.His team of spin doctors resort to desperate measures to bump up the price but will they be able to conceal the truth from the public? With the hand of the beautiful Princess Turandot on offer to the man whose intellect can save the dynasty, the dashing Gogher Gogh arrives at the palace.

 

But he’s not exactly the sharpest tool in the box… Written just before Brecht’s death and never performed in his lifetime, this comic parable is one of the most engaging and perceptive of his late plays. A legend that has appeared in many forms, most famously in Puccini’s opera, Turandot takes on an irreverent tone in Brecht’s comedy about the true value of knowledge. Regularly produced in Europe, the play has never previously been performed in the UK.

 

Edward Kemp’s version of Gottold Lessing’s Nathan the Wise was produced to great acclaim at Hampstead in 2004 and directed by Anthony Clark.