The Caucasian Chalk Circle is a play by the German modernist playwright Bertolt
Brecht. An example of Brecht's epic theatre, the play is a parable about a
peasant girl who rescues a baby and becomes a better mother than its wealthy
natural parents. The play was written in 1944 while
Brecht was living in the United States. It was translated into English by
Brecht's friend and admirer Eric Bentley and its world premiere was a student
production at Carleton College, Minnesota, in 1948. Its first
professional production was at the Hedgerow Theatre, Philadelphia, directed
by Bentley. Its German premiere was in 1954 at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm,
Berlin. The most known version of Caucasian Chalk Circle is the Georgian
version of the Rustaveli State Drama Theatre by Robert Sturua; this version
is also considered by many critics worldwide to be the best. The Caucasian
Chalk Circle is now considered one of Brecht's most celebrated works and is
one of the most regularly performed 'German' plays.
The play is a reworking of Brecht's earlier short story, Der Augsburger
Kreidekreis; both derive from the 14th-century Chinese play Circle of
Chalk by Li Xingdao.However, the story bears great resemblace to the Buddhist
Jataka story "Mahaushadha" Plot summary
= Prologue= Brecht, in his typical anti-realist
style, uses the device of a "play within a play". The "frame" play is set in the
Soviet Union around the end of the Second World War. It shows a dispute
between two communes, the Collective Fruit Farm Galinsk fruit growing commune
and the Collective Goat Farmers, over who is to own and manage an area of farm
land after the Nazis have retreated from a village and left it abandoned. A
parable has been organised by one group, an old folk tale, to be played out to
cast light on the dispute. The Singer, Arkadi Tcheidse, arrives with his band
of musicians, then tells the peasants the fable, which forms the main
narrative, and intertwines throughout much of the play. The Singer often takes
on the thoughts of characters, enhances the more dramatic scenes with stronger
narration than simple dialogue, and is responsible for most scene and time
changes. Often the role is accompanied by several "musicians" that help the
Singer keep the play running smoothly. At the end he states that the land
should go to those who will use it most productively, the fruit growers, and not
those who had previous ownership. = Scene one: The Noble Child=
The Singer's story begins with Governor Georgi Abashwili and his wife Natella
blatantly ignoring the citizens on the way to Easter Mass. The Singer shows us
the show's antagonist, Arsen Kazbeki, the Fat Prince. He sucks up to the pair
and remarks how their new child Michael is "a governor from head to toe." They
enter the church, leaving the peasants behind. Next to be introduced is the
heroine Grusha Vashnadze, a maid to the governor's wife. Grusha, while carrying
a goose for the Easter meal, meets a soldier, Simon Shashava, who reveals he
has watched her bathe in the rivers. She storms off enraged.
The Singer continues the story as the soldier contacts two architects for the
Governor's new mansion, the Ironshirts, gestapo-esque guards, turn on him. The
Fat Prince has orchestrated a coup and is now in control. The Governor is
quickly beheaded. Simon finds Grusha and proposes, giving her his silver cross.
Grusha accepts. Simon runs off to fulfill his duty to the Governor's wife,
who has been foolishly packing clothing for the "trip", caring nothing for the
loss of her husband. She is carried off, away from the flaming city of Nuhka and
inadvertently leaves her son, Michael, behind. Grusha is left with the boy and,
after seeing the Governor's head nailed to the church door, takes him with her
to the mountains. Music is often incorporated throughout much of this
scene with the aid of the Singer, musicians, and possibly Grusha, as
Brecht includes actual "songs" within the text.
= Scenes two and three Flight to the Northern Mountains=
The Singer opens the scene with an air of escape. At the beginning of this act
we see Grusha trying to escape but has to stop to get milk for the baby,
Michael, and is forced to buy milk expensively from an old man who claims
his goats have been taken away by the soldiers. This encounter slows her and
she is followed shortly by the ironshirts. Grusha then finds a home for
Michael to stay in. Abandoning him on the doorstep, he is adopted by a peasant
woman. Grusha has mixed emotions about this, which change when she meets a
perverted Corporal and Ironshirts who are looking for the child. He suspects
something about her, and Grusha is forced to knock him out to save Michael.
She wearily retreats to her brother's mountain farm. Lavrenti, Grusha's
brother, fabricates a story to his jealous wife Aniko, claiming that
Michael Abashwili is Grusha's child and she is on her way to find the father's
farm. Grusha catches scarlet fever and lives
there for quite some time. Rumours spread in the village, and Lavrenti
convinces Grusha to marry a dying peasant, Jussup, in order to quell them.
She reluctantly agrees. Guests arrive at the wedding–funeral, including the
Singer and musicians, which act as the hired musicians for the event, and
gossip endlessly. It is revealed that the Grand Duke is overthrowing the
princes and the civil war has finally ended, and no one can be drafted
anymore. At this, the supposedly dead villager Jussup returns to "life", and
it becomes clear he was only "ill" when the possibility of being drafted was
present. Grusha finds herself married. For months, Grusha's new husband tries
to make her a 'real wife', but she refuses.
Years pass, and Simon finds Grusha while washing clothes in the river. They have
a sweet exchange before Simon jokingly asks if she has found another man.
Grusha struggles to tell him she has unwillingly married, then Simon spots
Michael. The following scene between the two is told predominantly by the Singer,
who speaks for each of the two character's thoughts, and is easily the
most heartbreaking part of the play. However, Ironshirts arrive carrying
Michael in, and ask Grusha if she is his mother, she says that she is, and Simon
leaves distraught. The Governor's Wife wants the child back and Grusha must go
to court back in Nukha. The Singer ends the act with questions about Grusha's
future, and reveals that there is another story we must learn: the story
of Azdak. If an intermission is used, this is generally where it is placed.
= Scene four: The Story of the Judge= The scene opens as if a different play
entirely, yet set within the same war setting, is beginning. The Singer
introduces another hero named Azdak. Azdak shelters a "peasant" and protects
him from authorities by a demonstration of convoluted logic. He later realizes
that he sheltered the Grand Duke himself; since he thinks the rebellion
is an uprising against the government itself, he turns himself in for his
"class treason". But the rebellion isn't a populist one – in fact, the princes
are trying to suppress a populist rebellion occurring as a result of their
own – and Azdak renounces his revolutionary ideas to keep the
Ironshirts from killing him as a radical.
The Fat Prince enters, looking to secure the Ironshirts' support in making his
nephew a new judge. Azdak suggests they hold a mock trial to test him; the Fat
Prince agrees. Azdak plays the accused in the trial – the Grand Duke. He makes
several very successful jabs against the Princes' corruption, and amuses the
Ironshirts enough that they appoint him instead of the Fat Prince's nephew: "The
judge was always a chancer; now let a chancer be the judge!"
Azdak remains himself on the bench. He uses a large law book as a pillow to sit
on. What follows is a series of short scenes, interspersed by the "song" of
the Singer, in which he judges in favor of the poor, the oppressed, and
good-hearted bandits; in one set of cases in which all the plaintiffs and
the accused are corrupt, he passes a completely nonsensical set of judgments.
But it doesn't last forever; the Grand Duke returns to power, the Fat Prince is
beheaded, and Azdak is about to be hanged by the Grand Duke's Ironshirts
when a pardon arrives appointing "a certain Azdak of Nuka" as a judge in
gratitude for "saving a life essential to the realm", i.e. the Grand Duke's
own. "His Honour Azdak is now His Honour Azdak;" the wife of the beheaded
governor instantly dislikes him, but decides he'll be needed for the trial in
which she'll recover her son from Grusha. The act closes with Azdak
obsequious and afraid for his life, promising to restore Michael to the
Governor's Wife, behead Grusha, and do whatever else the Governor's Wife wants:
"It will all be arranged as you order, your Excellency. As you order."
= Scene five: The Chalk Circle= We have returned to Grusha's story. We
meet Grusha in court, supported by a former cook of the Governor and Simon
Shashava, who will swear he is the father of the boy. Natella Abashvili
comes in with two lawyers, who each reassure her things will be taken care
of. Azdak is beaten by Ironshirts, who are told he is an enemy of the state. A
rider comes in with a proclamation, stating the Grand Duke has reappointed
Azdak as judge. Azdak is cleaned up and the trial begins. The trial, however,
does not begin with Grusha and the Grand Duke's wife, but with a very elderly
married couple who wish to divorce. Azdak is unable to make a decision on
this case, so he sets it aside to hear the next case on the docket.
The prosecution comes forth and liberally bribes Azdak in hopes of
swinging the verdict. It is revealed that Nutella only wants the child
because all the estates and finances of the Governor are tied to her heir and
cannot be accessed without him. Grusha's defense does not go over well, as it
develops into her and Simon insulting Azdak for taking bribes. Azdak fines
them for this but, after consideration, claims he can't find the true mother. He
decides that he will have to devise a test. A circle of chalk is drawn, and
Michael is placed in the center. The true mother, Azdak states, will be able
to pull the child from the center. If they both pull, they will tear the child
in half and get half each. The test begins but Grusha refuses to pull as she
cannot bear to hurt Michael. Azdak gives her one more chance, but again she
cannot pull Michael. During this dilemma, a poignant song is sung by the
Singer as a reflection of Grusha's thoughts toward Michael. The others
onstage cannot hear this, but they feel the overwhelming emotion through Grusha.
Azdak declares that Grusha is the true mother, as she loves Michael too much to
be able to hurt him. The Governor's wife is told that the estates shall fall to
the city and be made into a garden for children called "Azdak's Garden". Simon
pays Azdak his fine. Azdak tells the old couple he shall divorce them, but
"accidentally" divorces Grusha and the peasant man, leaving her free to marry
Simon. Everyone dances off happily as Azdak disappears. The Singer remarks
upon Azdak's wisdom and notes that in the ending, everyone got what they
deserved. = Music=
Brecht wrote a number of 'songs' as part of the piece, and one of its main
characters is called the Singer. In 1944 the production was scored by Paul
Dessau. Though there is no officially published score, the show is generally
played with original music and songs performed by the cast. Many composers
have created unique original scores for Caucasian Chalk Circle. One score
performed regularly is by American composer, Mark Nichols, who based his
music on traditional Georgian folk harmonies in polyphony.
Comments Brecht made a crucial change from the
Chinese play which was his source. In it, it is the child's birth mother who
lets go and wins custody of the child. Near the end of the prologue, the Singer
says that this is an old story of Chinese origin, but with a modern
re-write. The play is sometimes played without the
prologue, and it was always played that way in the US during the McCarthy era.
There is some dispute about how integral the prologue is to Brecht's conception
of the play. Some claim that he regarded it as an integral part of his play, and
it was present in the earliest drafts. Others claim that it was only included
in later drafts. However, there is agreement that he originally intended to
set in the 1930s, but later updated it. The setting of the play is clearly
Georgia in the Caucasus, although it is described as "Grusinia" in the main
play. Most of the characters have Georgian names, and Tiflis and the poet
Mayakovsky are mentioned in the prologue. However the city where much of
the action takes place, Nuka, is in modern Azerbaijan, although it was under
Georgian rule for a time in the Middle Ages. There are also Iranian elements in
the play, including the name of the character Azdak, who says he comes from
there. Brecht did not necessarily intend his
play to be a realistic portrayal of either contemporary or medieval Georgia.
Even in the Soviet Union, some people found it more German than Russian or
Georgian, and pointed out that it did not accurately portray the
decision-making procedures in Soviet agriculture.
Notes External links
The Caucasian Chalk Circle at the Internet Broadway Database
Songs from Chalk Circle by Mark Nichols The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Heinemann
edition, 1960, in Google Books.