The Caucasian Chalk Circle

Bertolt Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle is certainly not an easy undertaking for most theatrical groups but Edinburgh University Theatre Company, under the direction of Carolin Alff, certainly have an enthusiastic go at tackling such an epic production which deals with the idea of what it really means to be a mother.

The play follows the story of Grusha (Sophie Pemberton) as she escapes from war, taking with her the child of the late town governor (Tom Shah) who was left behind by his mother (Sara Sharaawi). On her travels Grusha cheats death and escapes the soldiers looking for the child on several occasions. Eventually however, she is found by the authorities and the child is taken from her and she returns to her home town in order to face trial over who is the real mother of the child with the test of the chalk circle.

Although this production at points is really quite funny and sometimes very emotional, overall, it could have been done better. Some of the blocking at the beginning was messy and the small stage looked overcrowded with such a large cast on it, also some of the technical cues could have been better executed. A major flaw too it seems was the decision not to costume the live five-piece band. It looked odd to have the actors in period costume and the band dressed casually in jeans and hoodies. The lead singer of the band and the narrator of the piece, Kate Lister, was reading from a copy of the script, which looked unprofessional;  there seemed to be no clear reason for it other than she hadn’t been able to learn her lines in time for the production.

One of the few redeeming features of the play has to be Greg Lass’ performance as Azdak the judge. He delivered his lines with real authority and seemed to really get under the skin of his character to provide a believable performance and provides some much needed humour and depth to the production.