A SAMUEL FRENCH, LTD. TITLE

The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Bentley)

Full-Length Play, Drama  /  11w, 13m

Eric Bentley, Bertolt Brecht

In this adaptation of an old Chinese legend, a cruel town governor is murdered. His wife escapes but abandons her baby, who is harboured by a kitchen-maid, Grusha. Later the governor's widow returns and a trial is ordered with the test: which woman can drag the child out of a chalk circle?

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The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Bentley)

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    11w, 13m
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Period

Details

Summary

In this adaptation of an old Chin'se legend, a cruel town governor is murdered. His wife escapes but abandons her baby, who is harboured by a kitchen-maid, Grusha. Later the governor's widow returns and a trial is ordered with the test: which woman can drag the child out of a chalk circle? In refusing to harm the child by pulling it, Grusha is ruled to be the "true" mother.

  • Time Period 1940s/WWII
  • Setting

    Various simple settings

  • Additional Features Play with Music

Licensing & Materials

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Scripts

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Authors

Eric Bentley

Eric Bentley
Eric Bentley was born in England in 1916, became an American citizen in 1948, in 1998 was inducted into the (American) Theatre Hall of Fame, and in 2011 won a gold medal from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Scholar, critic, teacher, performer, translator and, final ...
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Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956), playwright, poet and director, was born in Augsburg, Germany in February 1898. He established himself as a playwright during the 1920s and early 1930s with plays such as Baal, Man is Man, The Threepenny Opera and The Mother. In 1933, as Hitler came ...
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