The Caucasian Chalk Circle

Retells the tale of King Solomon and a child claimed by two mothers.|Bertold Brecht (1898-1956) is one of Germany's best-known playwrights. His social critiques including The Caucasian Chalk Circle Mother Courage and Her Children and The Threepenny Opera resonate with modern audiences and continue to be frequently performed.Eric Bentley one of the foremost authorities on the modern theatre is a recognized playwright critic and scholar and a longtime intimate of Brecht. His most recent book is Bentley on Brecht.|The play is a parable inspired by the Chinese play Chalk Circle. Written at the close of World War II the story is set in the Caucasus mountains of Georgia and retells the tale of King Solomon and a child claimed by two mothers. A chalk circle is metaphorically drawn around a society misdirected in its priorities. Brecht's statements about class are cloaked in the innocence of a fable that whispers insistently to the audience.