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Good
Professor John Halder is a 'good' man. But 'good' men must adapt to survive.
As the world faces its Second World War, Halder finds himself pulled into a movement with unthinkable consequences.
Good is a story about a liberal-minded university professor who drifts well-meaningly into a position in the upper reaches of the Nazi administration. John Halder, a professor of literature, seems to be a good man; he diligently visits his blind and senile mother and looks after his vacant wife and three children. He is unremarkable, other than an unusual neurotic the imaginary sound of band music plays in the background of his life, particularly at moments of high emotion. But by writing a book – the result of his own experience – discussing euthanasia for senile elderly people and by lecturing on the delicacy of German literary culture, John has unintentionally made himself a very desirable acquisition for the Nazi party.
A profound and alarming examination of passivity and the rationalisation of evil.
Originally published in 1982, this new edition was published to coincide with the West End revival in 2022 starring David Tennant.
As the world faces its Second World War, Halder finds himself pulled into a movement with unthinkable consequences.
Good is a story about a liberal-minded university professor who drifts well-meaningly into a position in the upper reaches of the Nazi administration. John Halder, a professor of literature, seems to be a good man; he diligently visits his blind and senile mother and looks after his vacant wife and three children. He is unremarkable, other than an unusual neurotic the imaginary sound of band music plays in the background of his life, particularly at moments of high emotion. But by writing a book – the result of his own experience – discussing euthanasia for senile elderly people and by lecturing on the delicacy of German literary culture, John has unintentionally made himself a very desirable acquisition for the Nazi party.
A profound and alarming examination of passivity and the rationalisation of evil.
Originally published in 1982, this new edition was published to coincide with the West End revival in 2022 starring David Tennant.
96 pages, Paperback
Published November 17, 2022
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About the author
C.P. Taylor
20 books6 followersCecil Philip Taylor, usually credited as C.P. Taylor, was a Scottish playwright. He wrote almost 80 plays during his 16 years as a professional playwright, including several for radio and television. He also made a number of documentary programmes for the BBC. His plays tended to draw on his Jewish background and his Socialist Marxist viewpoint, and to be written in dialect.
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Source: Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
March 30, 2025
{3.5*}
This play, set in the 1930s before the Second World War, is about a good man. Here, it’s John Halder, and at the start, yes, he is full of goodness, to his first wife, his mother and to his best friend, but when he joins the Nazi party cracks in his goodness appear.
What makes this play chilling are the choices John makes and how he rationalises them, especially to himself. What I found interesting was how John’s goodness started to appear more on the surface. I did like the play but I also wish John was a more complex person, or showed even a little resistance.
This play, set in the 1930s before the Second World War, is about a good man. Here, it’s John Halder, and at the start, yes, he is full of goodness, to his first wife, his mother and to his best friend, but when he joins the Nazi party cracks in his goodness appear.
What makes this play chilling are the choices John makes and how he rationalises them, especially to himself. What I found interesting was how John’s goodness started to appear more on the surface. I did like the play but I also wish John was a more complex person, or showed even a little resistance.
November 14, 2007
C.P. Taylor poses the question - how do good, decent, liberal humane men and women get swept up by a totalatarian juggernaut - in this case the rise of Nazism. Produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1981, "Good" is a vivid and complex examination of Brecht's dictum that for evil to prosper, good men must do nothing.
The central character, Halder, is a professor of literature: a good, liberal-minded, music-loving man. It becomes apparent, however, that for all of Halder's humanity, he has an emotional detachment from his surroundings that at its extreme level leads to a moral obliviousness which allows him to move step by carefully rationalized step to embracing the Final Solution and supervising at Auschwitz.
The play opens with a popular song of the 1930s, "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows", stolen, as Halder swiftly reminds us, from Chopin. The message is clear: if art and music are corrupted, the rest must follow.
For me this is arguably the definitive piece written about the Holocaust in the English-speaking theatre.
The central character, Halder, is a professor of literature: a good, liberal-minded, music-loving man. It becomes apparent, however, that for all of Halder's humanity, he has an emotional detachment from his surroundings that at its extreme level leads to a moral obliviousness which allows him to move step by carefully rationalized step to embracing the Final Solution and supervising at Auschwitz.
The play opens with a popular song of the 1930s, "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows", stolen, as Halder swiftly reminds us, from Chopin. The message is clear: if art and music are corrupted, the rest must follow.
For me this is arguably the definitive piece written about the Holocaust in the English-speaking theatre.
May 2, 2024
4/5
نمایشنامهی Good داستان یه مرد خوب و سادهست، یه استاد دانشگاه، که توی آلمان نازی زندگی میکنه. داستان چطور مواجه شدنش با جریان های اجتماعی اطرافش و درگیرشدنش با چیزهایی که اتفاق میافته. وقایعی که شاید به نفس انقدر ها هم انسانی نباشن ولی هر روز برای همهشون یه توجیهی داره به جامعه عرضه میشه. به نظرم داستان قابل لمسی هست که واقعا ارزش دیدن داره و حس خوبیه که بدونی فارغ از زمان، توی این احساس سردرگمی که گاهی نسبت به جهان اطرافمون داریم و میتونه واقعا آدم رو گاهی توی خودش غرق کنه، تنها نیستیم.
داستان اینکه چطور انسان پس از مدتها درگیری با نسلکشی، جنگ، اختلافهای قومی، جهتگیریهای نابرابر اجتماعی و ... میتونه درک خودش از درست و غلط رو از دست بده و حتی نه تنها تا حدی نسبت به اتفاقات بی حس بشه بلکه شروع به توجیه اون ها بکنه.
نمایشنامهی Good داستان یه مرد خوب و سادهست، یه استاد دانشگاه، که توی آلمان نازی زندگی میکنه. داستان چطور مواجه شدنش با جریان های اجتماعی اطرافش و درگیرشدنش با چیزهایی که اتفاق میافته. وقایعی که شاید به نفس انقدر ها هم انسانی نباشن ولی هر روز برای همهشون یه توجیهی داره به جامعه عرضه میشه. به نظرم داستان قابل لمسی هست که واقعا ارزش دیدن داره و حس خوبیه که بدونی فارغ از زمان، توی این احساس سردرگمی که گاهی نسبت به جهان اطرافمون داریم و میتونه واقعا آدم رو گاهی توی خودش غرق کنه، تنها نیستیم.
داستان اینکه چطور انسان پس از مدتها درگیری با نسلکشی، جنگ، اختلافهای قومی، جهتگیریهای نابرابر اجتماعی و ... میتونه درک خودش از درست و غلط رو از دست بده و حتی نه تنها تا حدی نسبت به اتفاقات بی حس بشه بلکه شروع به توجیه اون ها بکنه.
January 11, 2023
I bought this after I saw the play for the 2nd time and was interested to see how it was scripted.
It was interesting to see how there were no changes for the scene switching, one character just said their line next as if it was a continuation. It would have been interesting to see what a difference a full cast made as opposed to just 2 doing the other roles. The only real big difference was the appareance of Hitler in the text. Which I can understand why it was left out of the most recent production. Likewise there was more interaction between the women than when Sharon was doing all the parts.
But it is a very disturbing piece of literature. Asking the question of how do good people get caught up in fascism. A question that was asked a lot until recent years, when we all realised just how it was. To me the most telling parts of the play was how much the anti-semitism was dismissed. The "temporary racialist abberation" as it was frequently referred to. Something they never believed would be stuck with. And then as Halder rises in the SS giving his own anti-semitic classes at the university and eventually participating directly in the holocaust. It is a prime example of how people try and stay comfortable in their lives and are willing to ignore what is done to others when it doesn't effect them directly. And it felt like so much mirrors the "trans debate" that has plagued the media in the UK for the last several years. I think the lesson here is don't let your friends get away with casual bigotry. Challenge them early so it won't get that far. Speak up and act out before it's too late.
It was interesting to see how there were no changes for the scene switching, one character just said their line next as if it was a continuation. It would have been interesting to see what a difference a full cast made as opposed to just 2 doing the other roles. The only real big difference was the appareance of Hitler in the text. Which I can understand why it was left out of the most recent production. Likewise there was more interaction between the women than when Sharon was doing all the parts.
But it is a very disturbing piece of literature. Asking the question of how do good people get caught up in fascism. A question that was asked a lot until recent years, when we all realised just how it was. To me the most telling parts of the play was how much the anti-semitism was dismissed. The "temporary racialist abberation" as it was frequently referred to. Something they never believed would be stuck with. And then as Halder rises in the SS giving his own anti-semitic classes at the university and eventually participating directly in the holocaust. It is a prime example of how people try and stay comfortable in their lives and are willing to ignore what is done to others when it doesn't effect them directly. And it felt like so much mirrors the "trans debate" that has plagued the media in the UK for the last several years. I think the lesson here is don't let your friends get away with casual bigotry. Challenge them early so it won't get that far. Speak up and act out before it's too late.
October 15, 2021
I don't recall how I discovered this obscure play from the Scottish writer Taylor, but it's brilliant, managing to be both comedic and subtly but effectively disturbing. A totally original take on WWII-era Germany and the Nazis. It would have helped if this Methuen publication had included more set descriptions and stage directions -- reading it can be confusing and irritating at first due to the unique style in which it was written.
May 23, 2024
I’ve got a complicated relationship with this play. It was an interesting idea to write a play about how the average man went to join the Nazi party and vote for the Nazi Party in Germany in the 1930s- the play makes you question what makes a person good, even if they do something as crazy as join the Nazi Party with the intentions to make the country more equitable and developed. However I’m not sure if this is the way to really approach it…… I’ll have to think about it. It seems rather forgiving and dismissive, at least until the end it gets a bit more intense, but I don’t know if that was enough.
Hitler isn’t going to survive another 6 months, you know that! We still live in a capitalist country, they’ll just kill him. And nobody actually takes the rubbish in Mein Kampf seriously. (Jonny, Nazi SS officer, 1932)
It also very briefly talks about how some women fell down the path to joining the Nazi party too, but … barely.
The stage directions threw me off in the beginning but it didn’t take me long to get into the rhythm of it. It’s not uncommon for a play to use one set throughout, but using only 3 actors to constantly switch between playing about 20 characters was fantastic, it’s amazing how they used a change of lighting and body language to switch between roles and situations so rapidly. The choreography was incredible, although maybe so incredible that it distracted me from the points the play is trying to make.
Hitler isn’t going to survive another 6 months, you know that! We still live in a capitalist country, they’ll just kill him. And nobody actually takes the rubbish in Mein Kampf seriously. (Jonny, Nazi SS officer, 1932)
It also very briefly talks about how some women fell down the path to joining the Nazi party too, but … barely.
The stage directions threw me off in the beginning but it didn’t take me long to get into the rhythm of it. It’s not uncommon for a play to use one set throughout, but using only 3 actors to constantly switch between playing about 20 characters was fantastic, it’s amazing how they used a change of lighting and body language to switch between roles and situations so rapidly. The choreography was incredible, although maybe so incredible that it distracted me from the points the play is trying to make.
December 2, 2022
Read this because I’m seeing David Tennant in it in London tonight. Very curious play and I’m looking forward to seeing it on stage (as always) and analyzing it later.
May 12, 2024
I don't think it's a stretch to say I hated this play. I have zero curiosity to know the reasons why a person would want to become a member of the Nazi party. I really don't care, just as I did not care to understand what mental gyrations people put themselves through to become Republicans in the US these days. There are no "good" Nazis. Sorry not sorry, CP Taylor.
December 13, 2022
"Whenever you imagine yourself soaring to profundity, remember the total banality of your existence and vision."
I rarely enjoy contemporary plays but this one took me to the heart. It did exactly what it promised: dive into a man's life and soul as he did what he thought was 'good' only to lead to one of the most horrific part of our history.
I can't wait to see the play adapted with David Tennant in it!
I rarely enjoy contemporary plays but this one took me to the heart. It did exactly what it promised: dive into a man's life and soul as he did what he thought was 'good' only to lead to one of the most horrific part of our history.
I can't wait to see the play adapted with David Tennant in it!
October 25, 2022
“Pale and loveable.”
When he refers to “Marlene Dietrich” though he kept referring to what he heard, it got me. His questioning love, and strongly considering both sides of falling in love again with someone else to keeping his main love and sanctity to his family. But at least it has a liberal backbone. Talking about sexuality. And this intelligent man in a strong conflict of both the heart and the mind like the doctor character says about David Tennant’s writings.
The acting isn’t adding to the writing it is merely channeling it. Tennant has many moments. And the [female performer] is perhaps more consistently hitting emotions, a wider range.
The imaginary doctor man is missing the mark. Delivering a simple idea of what the words are saying.
It was the first half which was lacking. But after that set up the second half is really strong. Simple arguments regarding one’s subjectivity as delusion when it controls another. It’s clear, well spoken, and reasonable. Confronting the fascists to question things.
This Pinter/Tennant run has a blackout blast of the sounds of a house being raided. Screams, glass, fire. This welled me up. And before that they open a chute in the wall and out come fifty books to be symbolically burned out the other hole in the wall.
The set was a concrete room which could double for a prison or a government building antechamber.
The difference between being good and happy or content. Of being happy or content in a world with constant worries and pains.
Then the reality of the oppressed playing music. A beacon of good, in the face of unhappy Nazi men. To be met with living music, something one falls back on like an escapist novel. To be supported and stimulated positively by the objective humans before you.
He wouldn’t sign my diary. Is it because it means I may not have seen the show, I may not be supporting the theatre; that it’s more likely to be sold on blank lined paper; or that I would put a contrary manifesto atop it and play it off as words blessed by him? That was tragic. It distracted me from the ‘Good’ play and its details.
I was conflicted about giving a standing o. Because there was hesitancy I didn’t get up. But I clapped very loudly. If I’d noticed earlier that the stalls were standing I would’ve gotten up. If the people around me got up I would’ve gotten up. But the fact I didn’t love all of it mattered. And the play was at least more important than the fact David Tennant, once my hero, was playing in it. I could’ve either said “I couldn’t afford a program but I paid for the ticket!” Or “I’ve seen all your Doctor Who episodes at least twenty times each! …within a span of 5 years!” I watched TV them most recently perhaps last year, even. Maybe it was a lockdown exercise. I remember slowing down when it got to Matt Smith. Perhaps skipping over his latter end and going into Capaldi, one of his seasons that I hadn’t seen yet. His episodes miss the point. “Life is worth living” isn’t the heart of it anymore. It is escapism instead. That’s the world we are in. Marvel joking, anything else is boring.
When he refers to “Marlene Dietrich” though he kept referring to what he heard, it got me. His questioning love, and strongly considering both sides of falling in love again with someone else to keeping his main love and sanctity to his family. But at least it has a liberal backbone. Talking about sexuality. And this intelligent man in a strong conflict of both the heart and the mind like the doctor character says about David Tennant’s writings.
The acting isn’t adding to the writing it is merely channeling it. Tennant has many moments. And the [female performer] is perhaps more consistently hitting emotions, a wider range.
The imaginary doctor man is missing the mark. Delivering a simple idea of what the words are saying.
It was the first half which was lacking. But after that set up the second half is really strong. Simple arguments regarding one’s subjectivity as delusion when it controls another. It’s clear, well spoken, and reasonable. Confronting the fascists to question things.
This Pinter/Tennant run has a blackout blast of the sounds of a house being raided. Screams, glass, fire. This welled me up. And before that they open a chute in the wall and out come fifty books to be symbolically burned out the other hole in the wall.
The set was a concrete room which could double for a prison or a government building antechamber.
The difference between being good and happy or content. Of being happy or content in a world with constant worries and pains.
Then the reality of the oppressed playing music. A beacon of good, in the face of unhappy Nazi men. To be met with living music, something one falls back on like an escapist novel. To be supported and stimulated positively by the objective humans before you.
He wouldn’t sign my diary. Is it because it means I may not have seen the show, I may not be supporting the theatre; that it’s more likely to be sold on blank lined paper; or that I would put a contrary manifesto atop it and play it off as words blessed by him? That was tragic. It distracted me from the ‘Good’ play and its details.
I was conflicted about giving a standing o. Because there was hesitancy I didn’t get up. But I clapped very loudly. If I’d noticed earlier that the stalls were standing I would’ve gotten up. If the people around me got up I would’ve gotten up. But the fact I didn’t love all of it mattered. And the play was at least more important than the fact David Tennant, once my hero, was playing in it. I could’ve either said “I couldn’t afford a program but I paid for the ticket!” Or “I’ve seen all your Doctor Who episodes at least twenty times each! …within a span of 5 years!” I watched TV them most recently perhaps last year, even. Maybe it was a lockdown exercise. I remember slowing down when it got to Matt Smith. Perhaps skipping over his latter end and going into Capaldi, one of his seasons that I hadn’t seen yet. His episodes miss the point. “Life is worth living” isn’t the heart of it anymore. It is escapism instead. That’s the world we are in. Marvel joking, anything else is boring.
July 28, 2023
Once again-- one of the most moving pieces of theater I've ever seen produced. The reading of it, too, while a little disjointed, is equally impactful. It speaks the loudest, of course, in its ellipses and its silence. This omission is juxtaposed against a soaring and continuous soundscape of jazz and big band. A true treat for the eyes, ears, and mind. Well worth trying to acquire the David Tennant version if you can (from director Dominic Cooke): a masterpiece in style and execution.
Essentials:
(Intro) "The writing of this play is my response to a deeply felt, and deeply experienced, trauma [...] as well as the intellectual awareness, not at all deeply felt, of my role as the 'Peace Criminal' in the Peace 'Crimes' of the current West against the Third World-- my part in the Auschwitzes we are all perpetrating today."
"People don't go to psychiatrists to streamline their lives... they go to free themselves from agony."
"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."
"You find somebody you love... and you have a family and look after them... and try and not harm anybody... Isn't that what happens? In the end you have to survive. And the less you harm people in surviving..."
"Just for the moment, of course, love has been obscured by panic and anxiety."
"All we can do is hold on to each other. If we're good to each other. And the people around us-- if we try the utmost to be good..."
"Profundity has nothing to do with human beings. Whenever you imagine yourself soaring to profundity, remember the total banality of your existence and vision."
Essentials:
(Intro) "The writing of this play is my response to a deeply felt, and deeply experienced, trauma [...] as well as the intellectual awareness, not at all deeply felt, of my role as the 'Peace Criminal' in the Peace 'Crimes' of the current West against the Third World-- my part in the Auschwitzes we are all perpetrating today."
"People don't go to psychiatrists to streamline their lives... they go to free themselves from agony."
"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."
"You find somebody you love... and you have a family and look after them... and try and not harm anybody... Isn't that what happens? In the end you have to survive. And the less you harm people in surviving..."
"Just for the moment, of course, love has been obscured by panic and anxiety."
"All we can do is hold on to each other. If we're good to each other. And the people around us-- if we try the utmost to be good..."
"Profundity has nothing to do with human beings. Whenever you imagine yourself soaring to profundity, remember the total banality of your existence and vision."
May 19, 2023
A truly excellent piece of theatre. I have the benefit of having seen a rendition, so reading it after makes it easier to visualise. For those who don’t have that advantage I can imagine feeling a bit lost maybe for a bit. As the scenes constantly intercut back and forth from one another with no stage directions to highlight this, the read might be slightly overwhelming.
But the pacing is excellent. The dialogue is perfect. I’m a big lover of modern dialect in a historical setting. And the character, and his moral dilemmas. Unnerving. Awful. Encapsulating.
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.
I’d be interested to see a version that follows the script directly. There’s a lot of music woven throughout the play, accompanying key moments with Halder, the band appearing on stage on as apparitions. The version I saw does away will all of these except the last one and that to me is what gave this play such a haunting ending. Anymore than that would have softened the blow.
But the pacing is excellent. The dialogue is perfect. I’m a big lover of modern dialect in a historical setting. And the character, and his moral dilemmas. Unnerving. Awful. Encapsulating.
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.
I’d be interested to see a version that follows the script directly. There’s a lot of music woven throughout the play, accompanying key moments with Halder, the band appearing on stage on as apparitions. The version I saw does away will all of these except the last one and that to me is what gave this play such a haunting ending. Anymore than that would have softened the blow.
January 12, 2023
Might deserve a reread, but knowing the general synopsis for this play left me with no surprises and a lot of time spent on a character who felt sort of uncomplicated. He starts dislikable and ends more dislikable. But perhaps those are my impressions inserting themselves into my thoughts; I thought I was reading a play about a good person who becomes bad, but maybe the play is about a bad person who reveals themself to be bad.
April 28, 2023
A liberal professor is gradually won over to fascism by a mixture of intellectual seduction and psychological pressure . For instance , his humanitarian belief in end of life choice to end suffering is twisted by the Nazi euthanasia program and party membership offers family security .
A stark and fascinating play to discover via a cinema broadcast of the national theatre broadcast with a strong central performance from David Tennant .
A stark and fascinating play to discover via a cinema broadcast of the national theatre broadcast with a strong central performance from David Tennant .
August 4, 2025
I only realized that I should be reading and LISTENING TO THE MUSIC at the same time *smh…
BUT - I didn’t know if it was the right music half the time anyways…
HOWEVER! What a COOL concept for a play. Also, Halder’s naïveté was so pathetic and hopeful(?) at the same time.
Maurice is my hero in this play, and I hope he made it out of that pit of WWII Germany.
Maurice: John. This is a classic neurotic relationship. My best loved friend is a Nazi.
BUT - I didn’t know if it was the right music half the time anyways…
HOWEVER! What a COOL concept for a play. Also, Halder’s naïveté was so pathetic and hopeful(?) at the same time.
Maurice is my hero in this play, and I hope he made it out of that pit of WWII Germany.
Maurice: John. This is a classic neurotic relationship. My best loved friend is a Nazi.
May 16, 2021
An undeniably interesting story, but somewhat lacking in nuance. I appreciate the banality of evil thing, but Halder treats everyone in his life somewhat cruelly from the get-go, so it’s unsurprising when he goes full Nazi and the women are just pawns for the main character.
December 18, 2022
I read this play after seeing David Tennant's run as Halder in the West End. A vital piece of fiction about one's radicalisation into far-right ideology. Poignant, impactful writing that is still relevant, despite the play being written in the 1980s and the play being set in 1940s Nazi Germany.
May 1, 2023
One man's descent into barbarism, but how good is he really
May 1, 2025
text was ok. I wish I had seen the performance.
September 7, 2022
I decided to read this play as I had heard about the subject matter it covers. I wanted to go and see it but wasn't sure it was for me. As a former drama student I have read and seen lots of productions of many different plays. However I struggled with this. There are no stage directions so hard to visualise who is entering or exiting from where and also the way it is written the reader thinks a character is in a certain place but then other action takes place while the other still seems to be. It is most confusing.I also wasn't reading it like a novel as often that can easily be done with plays but was trying to visualise it on a stage but couldn't decide which kind of stage I thought it should be on. As a comparison I have just started to read Fo's Accidental Death of an Anarchist, also in preparation to see that and the script is so much more alive. Myself, where Good is concerned, I am still unsure what I think.
September 4, 2023
the inevitable intellectual mutation of someone who's JUST too deep in it. justifying totalitarianism has no ends. was recalling beat by beat David Tennant's performance while reading and it's so chilly even in the middle of summer.
May 2, 2007
Another Life-changer
March 28, 2019
Very moving description of Nazi era and how methodical the regime was in grooming and co-opting people who were either neutral or sympathetic.
March 7, 2023
Harold Pinter Theatre, London
Mon Dec 19, 2022
David Tennant
Elliot Levey
Sharon Small
Mon Dec 19, 2022
David Tennant
Elliot Levey
Sharon Small
February 24, 2024
Probably was much better as a live performance but reading this just on paper was torturous
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews