Directed by Eric Prince
December 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 8 p.m., December 7, 2 p.m.
Bertolt Brecht (1898 – 1956) is acknowledged as one of the truly great dramatists of the twentieth century, and the Caucasian Chalk Circle has been called a morality masterpiece. Richly theatrical, comic, and full of vitality and energy, it demonstrates Brecht’s pioneering theatrical techniques as well as being a wonderful epic play with universal and humanistic appeal. The play tells the story of Grusha, a young peasant woman who sacrifices everything to protect a child abandoned in the heat of civil war. She makes a daring escape, falls in love, travels many miles alone, survives all manner of hardship and encounters a gallery of rogues and astonishing characters. When peace is finally restored, she is made to confront the boy’s biological mother in a legal contest over who deserves to keep him using an ancient tradition – the chalk circle – to resolve the dispute and determine the child’s true mother.
Click to read the Caucasian Chalk Circle Program.