It’s appropriate that Wayne State University Department of Theatre is presenting a student production of Bertolt Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle at the historic Bonstelle Theatre. The play was written while Brecht was living in the United States, and its world premiere was as a student production at Carleton College, Minnesota, in 1948.
The Caucasian Chalk Circle is now considered one of Brecht's most important plays and it is regularly performed in the original German.
Based on a 14th-Century Chinese play, ‘Circle of Chalk’ by Li Xindao, Brecht’s play is in the epic theatre style – a parable about a peasant girl who steals/rescues a baby of wealthy parents to save its life. Although the young girl endures many hardships to protect the baby, she is ultimately challenged in court by the biological mother, who seeks out the baby only as a means to its inheritance.
The story winds up with a village recorder playing the role of King Solomon to determine who is the child’s ‘real’ mother.
According to Director Jesse Merz, ‘Chalk Circle ultimately asks questions about how resources are used for the common good of society.’ Merz sees parallels between the play and America in the early twenty-first century because it asks a crucial question: ‘What is our responsibility to humanity in times of crisis?’
According to Merz, ‘Brecht was against sentimentality. He wanted theatre to make you think, not just leave you with an emotional catharsis.’
In the Bonstelle production the audience will be keenly aware that they are in a theatre in Detroit in 2010. The production will expose the bare walls of the stage so the audience will not forget where they are. ‘Brecht was all about breaking rules and so are we,’ Merz concludes.
The Caucasian Chalk Circle runs October 15 to October 24, 2010. Tickets are available through the Box Office, open Tuesday – Saturday from 2 p.m. – 6 p.m., at the Hilberry Theatre. Tickets may be purchased at the door at the Bonstelle Theatre (3434 Woodward Ave.) one hour prior to performances. Regular tickets are available for $15, and $12 discounted tickets are available to seniors ages 62+ and Wayne State University faculty, staff, and Alumni Association members. Group discounts are also available. For more information, please visit the theatre’s website. .
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