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The Caucasian Chalk Circle

 


When: 20th October 2022 (Matinee)

Where: Rose Theatre, Kingston

Writer: Bertolt Brecht

Director: Christopher Haydon


I studied this play at A Level and to say I didn't like it would be an understatement, it was the bane of my life. I hated it and when my A Level was over I never planned on going near this play again if I could. I umed and ahed about seeing this but decided I would give it a shot not being one to turn down a trip to the theatre. I am really glad I did whilst the play it's self is still not my favourite, I really enjoyed this production of it and I think it has definitely weakened my hatered towards it. 

One of the driving factors for this performance was the singer (Zoe West), she perfectly led us on the journey becoming that go between for the characters and the audience. This was just as Brecht had intended, the audience never became immersed in the story you were constantly aware that this is a story being told but we were still able to have emotional reactions to the situations of the characters. This is also a testament to the skill of the entire ensemble who understood exactly what Brecht wanted from the piece and embodied that beautifully. The only issue I have is that the guitar became very repetitive and the rhythms of each of the songs began to feel very similar and boring after a while, it could have done with a bit more variation.

When I heard Carrie Hope Fletcher was doing a play I got excited, I'm more of a plays person than a musical theatre person but have always wanted to see her live. In this production she was brilliant, she understood and embodied her character well, and her singing was incredible. However, there were a lot of songs in this production and whilst it worked it began to feel less like a play and more like a musical at points. Also I felt Carries acting and emotional attatchment to the character was much stronger when she was singing rather than just acting, unsurprising coming from a musical theatre background but I feel she may not have been as strong if they hadn't included so many songs. Her acting throughout remained a little over the top, musical theatre like, which works for a Brecht performance, but I would love to see how she handles a more subtle playwrights work.  

The set was also very Brechtian using only beds and manipulating them to become different things. I liked it I thought it was really effective, although every time they stood them on their ends and climbed up them like ladders to sit on top I was terrified they were going to lose balance and collapse. However, wondered whether the stage was too big, they were never really using the whole stage at the same time, even when they were spread out from the middle there was large spaces either side of them. The ensemble wasn't big and whilst that worked for the performance, they didn't have enought people to fill the space. I liked the ladders at the back and the use of the balcony, and I think I would hold onto this. Perhaps if I was staging it I would have only used the square area in the middle and filled the rest of the space with set i.e cardboard boxes as they had on the balcony. I think this would have added a sense of mess and being stacked on top of each other, but also a feeling of intimacy and closeness, all of which are portrayed within the story. 

By the end I was smiling and I had definitely felt the emotional arch and message that Brecht had intended. Overall, I did really enjoy seeing this production, and it has changed my views on The Caucasian Chalk Circle. 


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