The Caucasian Chalk Circle

on Thursday, 01 December 2011.

By Bertolt Brecht

Translated by James and Tania Stern, with WH Auden
Directed by Jenny Eastop

A travelling band of singers and storytellers arrives to entertain the village. As they settle down to play, an extraordinary story unfolds…

When the land of Grusinia is turned upside-down by a sudden coup, Grusha the kitchen maid flees with the rest of the court, but she can’t bring herself to leave an abandoned baby behind.

Grusha and the child set off on a terrifying journey, trying to outrun the Ironshirts who’ve seized power. After Grusha bargains away her happiness, they settle in a remote mountain village.

But when the war is over and the tables have turned once again, the child’s real mother comes to reclaim him. After all this time, to whom does the child really belong?

Special thanks to Sam Dore for the photographs