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Image provided by: Jefferson Market Library
Down town It's Been 41 Years Since It Was Written by Brecht: Caucasian Chalk Circle' is a Sign of Life BY STEVEN HART A peculiar feature of Brechl'.s pla\, ' T lic (’aucasian Chalk ('ircle,” is that its peasant heroine etuis up the victor. Written in lt)44 while Brecht was in California, it is in teresting til siieculatc on whether the nii pending end of the war sonieliow sei'ined tn iierald for him a new era of clas.sles.s IniinanitariariisiM Kiirt\-one wars after [lie [ilav's cuin[jti a tion. till' curienl prodiiiiion ronrlude.i with a Liond deal of imin as the Criisha in thr Stilonmii like te-l nl tlie circle, yields up la i iiinpteil Min lo his real mother m nrdei- !n Ji'otect tiiin from harm 'The lies that )ind' hc!v .ire imi thn^e of nature, m- even lliose o| l■l^n\ entiMiial n irllle. but the ones ,atiiliiced a liiii'tui inc spint that uil! en- lo!'i' 'Atro'iie hardship in the name ul imai 1 lie ‘ iii[ . 1 ^lan Chalk Ciivlr'' i> a parable oi pnuer t l!'u,>ha hikes charpe o! the sun of a de))u.sed povernol when lie is abandoned out of self-iiiteresl by both hi.s nioiher and Ins nurse. The play is set m the mythiciil land oi Crusinia, between hairope and Asia, and takes the form of a inoi’iil as well as an actual journey Crusha. jilayed simply iind forcefully by I'eggy Bettit, takes u|) the child despite the admonition of her fellow iieasants that he is a danger to her, and that she is being a fool. Crusha refuses to abandon the child and sets off to find il a home and herself a place to wait out the civil war that follows the downfall of the governor. Before the child is finally designated as hers, she is forced to travel through hostile mountains, all along the way facing the threat of capture, rape, death and the loss of the child to her own poverty. Most of these dangers arise specifically because of her gender which inhibits her ability to function as a free agent in her society ; and yet, as the play and the production seem to argue, it is this factor of her nature that makes her willing to take on the child in the first place. Director Denny Partridge seems to focus on the gender related aspects of the parable. The characters are generalized, as indeed they should be, to suggest not thal women are the only gender capable of nur turing, hut that humankind has a nurturing side so long as it is not acculturated away. lA)r example, CTrusha is forced on the mer cy of her sister-in-law, Aniko (nicely done by Melody Jamesi, who does not want her in the house because she believes the child IS a bastard. As Crusha's brother points out, Aniko \IS religious\ meaning that her seii.se of moral order according to religion supercedes her .sense t)f compassion. This Modern Times Theatre production addresses these issues in a calm, laid-back manner that gives you room to think. The play argues that in a society where you liave no choice but to be going up or going From left Melody James, Cora Hook, Pogqy Pettitl Li/ne Olesker. Karon Lemor and Anne Barclay (Hosegc] Phnini down in a hierarchy, and where competition IS accepted as an absolute of human nature, only the people at the bottom of the heap can po.ssibly have time U) consider the needs of their fellow men. They, of course, are unable even to maintain themselves much less do anything about those who suf fer around them. This latter point is illustrated by the mo ment when G rush a, a virgin, tries lo feed the infant from her own breast in the hope that the illusion of milk will stmiehow lumrish the child in a way that she, however willing, cannot. Ms. Pettit demurely turns her back on the audience and tries helpless ly to twi.st a drop of milk from her breast tu feed the child. But, as is always the point m Brecht, the belly is ix*al and must be fed with real food, which the mo.st charitable of hearts, without the means, cannot. Brecht liked the pai'able form because he could do battle with a number of things, sometimes seemingly unrelated, at once. \The {'aucasian (Jialk Circle\ is .staged here with scenery (lieiny Tissien and costumes ( Denny Partridge) that have a look of a Sunday School Bible class textbook lull of colorful pastels and flowing robes. While the inaiii theme deals with i.ssues of individual and collective power, at the .same time morality, and in particular Christian morality, is examined. (.Jrusha’s poverty is what gives her empathy for the child's plight. Dale Byam plays a peasant woman who is only slightly better off. with whom Grusha tries to leave the child to save it from starvation. But .so deeply concerned is the old peasant woman with hanging onto her meager worldly all, that she simply cannot afford compassion. Brecht’s point is the opposite of the Bible’s in that even faith and virtue will not get the rich man through the eye of the nee dle. lAiverty does not make Grusha ctmipas- sionate; ptiwer and property prevent it from coming to fruition in others. The ex ception that proves the rule in the play is the judge, Azdak, played with charming I'iastside elan by Steve i'’riedman. During the revolution produced by the governor’s downfall. Azdak was promoted to judge on the way to his own trial when the prevunis judge was lynched by .some drunken .soldiers. Just before the chalk circle .scene, he is again plucked from the rope by a drunken act of kindne.ss in saving tlu' life ol the Grand Duke when he was tempoi'anly on the run during the civil war. Azdak is a .scoundrel by all conventional standards; he takes bribes, i.s a bit of a lecher, and is bombed niosl of the time. But he has a common sense notion ol justii'c through his absurdly fuddled judgements, which dictates that humanity is best served by the lea.st injury to individuals and the greatest benefit to society as a whole. Thus Grusha. the loving and lo\al sui-rogate mother, is given custody because she vwll help the child grow, and learn Azdak s sense of justice is captured in BrechtT sim pie, tasty line, \What there is shall go to tho.se that are good to it.\ The good is simj)- ly that which allows the intention (o nourish lo be fulfilled. In the real world, it is not enough to have a good heart Now here we are in this era when com petition is again being venerated, ami tradi tional virtues extolled in a ' back to basics \ approach to public moralits Jim n.\ Garter spends a bit of this sunimei the Diuei I'iast Suit* fixing up a building that will imi house even a iiu'a.surabli' fraction uf the New Yorki'i's wlio need lu)iising Hmialil Reagan applauds such viilnnti'ensin as on aiUedote to \lug govt'rnmeMl” winch was created to liandle, however inepth. the big problems, like hoiiielessne.s.s, tliat now seem lo have (li.sapi)eared from llie nn'icml .igcii- da As Grusha understands, below .1 certoin |)oint in a coin|)e[ilion. tlie trickle does not descend, or is luuising supposed to trickle down to the destitute ' Bri'chl iiiiglit o^k 1 ! llu' competition for jirofits in Ne\k ^'nrk'‘' real estate market were not tlie cmise of ilir jiroblem in tlie first jilace \T ills ('AGGASIAN CllALK niB I.I \ Wiishiiigloii ,S(juaiT Metliodi.sl Chureh, i:i;t W. 4lh St. fur reservationsf iHD-KIKtll May 1H. nmn. the : VILLA O ta I'iiqR II
