Bertolt Brecht The Caucasian Chalk Circle

BERTOLT BRECHT – “THE CAUCASIAN CHALK CIRCLE”

Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) a non-conformist German playwright, was the most important single influence in the development of epic theatre. His political beliefs and experiences were his motivation to try to change the world through drama. Through the theatre he created he made people realise the wrong doings of the society in which they lived. Brecht was a pacifist and, therefore, wrote a number of plays with strong political messages to intellectually stimulate and politically motivate his audiences. Brecht’s plays were originally rejected by the society in which he lived because they were unconventional and against the ideological beliefs that his society embraced.

In his work, Brecht explored themes related to war, ownership, sacrifice, the notion of justice and the theme of the inequalities produced by ‘superior’ people in power over the ‘inferior’ lower class. He challenged society’s opinion of the oppressed. Brecht tried to teach his audiences not to accept the world as they found it. He also tried to teach his actors the same thing.

“… above all s/he [actor of Brechtian theatre] must be aware of the theme with which the play is concerned.”

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In verses, they fill in the gaps in the action and give a reflection on it. At the beginning of the extract from the play, the singer and chorus introduce AZDAK and give the audience a short background on the type of person he is and what his role is in society. They were representations of the oppressed that exist within our society. 157)

Brecht often terminated scenes before their climax and he would also interrupt the action by drawing the curtains. An example of this in the extract is OLD PEASANT WOMAN. Actors also had to separate vocalisation from gesture – in other words, they had to make vocal and physical timing strange and somewhat disconnected.

In this extract, AZDAK supports the underdogs - the peasants, rather than the wealthier as the audience comes to expect, no matter who is innocent. Brecht uses a singer as the narrator with a supporting chorus in “The Caucasian Chalk Circle”.

In this extract, Brecht places the unconventional, maverick judge, AZDAK, in a tavern where he drinks alcohol whilst making his judgement on the cases put towards him. 190)

In Brechtian plays, dissonant music was used to aid in communicating text by eliminating meaning by delineating moral attitude. I want a wider public for this book.

Broke the law like bread he gave them,

… (p. AZDAK is a most unlikely judge as he is of lower class and a drunk, however he gives fair judgements.

Approximate Word count = 1828
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

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