The Circle of Life

It's a touch chalky

By Paul Friswold

published: April 23, 2008

The “Caucasian” in the Bertolt Brecht’s satirical play The Caucasian Chalk Circle refers to the people of the Caucasus Mountain region, not simply generic white people, and the chalk circle is a slightly-less gory version of King Solomon’s famous test of parenthood. In the play-within-a-play story, The Singer relates a parable about a country where the members of the ruling class keep overthrowing one another, a young serving girl named Grushna saves the heir of the provincial governor, and a wily motor mouth named Azdak rises to an influential position thanks to his unintentional moment of class treason. When the governor’s heir becomes a pawn in the government’s power struggle, the “mighty” Azdak must decide not only the young man’s fate, he must also determine whether he is himself still a revolutionary or the lapdog of the oppressors. Morality, social justice and the perils of political power come to a head when Hydeware Theatre presents Bertolt Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle at 8 p.m. Friday through Sunday (April 25 through 27) and 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday (May 1 through 3) at the Ivory Theatre (7622 Michigan Avenue; 314-368-7306 or www.hydeware.org). Tickets are $15.
April 25-26; May 1-3, 2008