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| BY BERTOLT BRECHT | TRANSLATED BY ERIC BENTLEY |
Summary
PL115's new production of Caucasian Chalk Circle re-imagines Brecht's master work as a distinctly American fable. Set in a half-finished building taken over by squatters, and using modernized "disaster ballad" folk songs to drive the story, the company mines material from their six-month residency with Mabou Mines (2007-08) to bring the play into contemporary relief.
With the economy at a standstill, ongoing wars, and a disintegrating environment, our society is closer to the dark landscape of Brecht's mythical Grusinia than perhaps at any time since his own post-war Germany. By focusing on the divide between the haves and have-nots, and how quickly fortunes can change, the production asks: what is our responsibility to each other in times of crisis?
Plays June 25 - July 11 @ The Chocolate Factory
Visit www.thechocolatefactorytheater.org to purchase tickets.
Press
“The production has such zing and visual cohesion ... we never forget Reagan’s or the ensemble’s thrilling potential: Not even two hours of Brecht could alienate us from them.”
Helen Shaw, Time Out New York Read more...
“If the play warns of the ‘terrible temptation to do good,’ it seems as if PL115 has given in ... a brisk, compassionate version of a difficult script.”
Alexis Soloski, The Village Voice Read more...
“Provocative ... there’s not a dull spot in the two-hour evening”
Deirdre Donovan, CurtainUp Read more...
“Tickets to Performance Lab 115’s production of Caucasian Chalk Circle are only $15, but the show would be worth seeing at five times that price. The cast is stellar, the scenery and costumes strikingly inventive and the performance has a level of energy to which all plays should aspire.”
Willow Belden, Queens Chronicle Read more...
“PL115 does an admirable job of keeping this lumbering fairy tale moving forward with excellent staging that gives room to the tender moments and lungs to the spectacle of cruelty that coexist in Brecht’s alternate reality.”
Vladic Ravich, Queens Tribune Read more...
People
- Directed by: Alice Reagan
- With:
- Justin Badger*
- Sara Buffamanti*
- Jeff Clarke
- Liz Eckert
- Rachel Jablin
- Marty Keiser*
- Rebecca Lingafelter*
- Elizabeth Malone
- Chris Richards
- Rachel Schwartz*
- Ben Vershbow
- Dramaturg: Ramona Thomasius
- Composer: Mark Valadez
- Choreographer: Beth Kurkjian
- Set & Lights: Peter Ksander
- Costumes: Asta Hostetter
- Stage Manager: Chrissie Santiago
- Assistant Director: Dara Malina
- Associate Producer: Veronique Ory
- Interns: Jake Lasser, Logan Jennings
*appearing courtesy of Actor's Equity / Equity Approved Showcase.
- Special thanks to our collaborators who helped develop Chalk Circle:
Michael Downing, Jon Froehlich, Laura Heidinger, Heather Hollingsworth, Andrew Z. Kelsey, Elena Mulroney, Kila Packett, Ben Posner, Dana Riddick, David Skeist, Attila Tóth and Stephanie Weeks
Caucasian Chalk Circle is made possible by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's Swing Space program which was created with lead support from the September 11th Fund. Project space is donated by Capstone Equities. Support also provided by The Mental Insight Foundation.
Ths project is part of The Chocolate Factory's Visiting Artist Program.
Caucasian Chalk Circle was developed in part in the Resident Artists Program 2007-08 of Mabou Mines/Suite.
Performances
> June 25-July 11, 2009
at The Chocolate Factory
> March 23-25, 2008
at the Mabou Mines ToRoNaDa space
Photos
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All photos Copyright Yi Zhao.
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Postcard
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