THE CAUCASIAN CHALK CIRCLE | Madách Nemzetközi Színházi Találkozó

Bertolt Brecht

THE CAUCASIAN CHALK CIRCLE 16

Berliner Ensemble, Berlin, Germany

Director: Michael Thalheimer

Performed in German with Hungarian and English subtitles.

1 hours 50 minutes, without breaks.

The Chalk Circle’s plot is of exemplary clarity and dialectic beauty: During a revolution, a baby is passed from one mother to another. Over the course of her flight, the new mother gets into ever deeper trouble and ultimately finds herself on trial at a court of law. Times have changed once more and the child is now heir to a great fortune. But Judge Azdak is still in power: His rulings are feared by the rich and a blessing for the poor. And when the biological mother ruthlessly demands the return of her child, he re-invents Solomon’s chalk circle. When Bertolt Brecht and his Berliner Ensemble took over the Theater am Schiffsbauerdamm in 1954, his first production there was The Caucasian Chalk Circle. Michael Thalheimer is in-house director at Berliner Ensemble and will create productions there at regular intervals.

“Stefanie Reinsperger languishes, luxuriates, oozes, whoops, grunts, hops, whines, smooches, sobs, howls, scolds and despises at Champions League level.” (Die Welt)

“Stunning; the most de-cluttered Brecht you could wish for.” (Süddeutscht Zeitung)

Grusha: Stefanie Reinsperger
Singer: Ingo Hülsmann
Azdak, Monk: Tilo Nest
Simon Chachawa: Niko Holonics
Natella Abaschwilli, Gruse's sister-in-law: Sina Martens
Maro, First cuirassier and other roles: Carina Zichner
An old, dying peasant, Prince and other roles: Veit Schubert
Lavrenti Vachnadze (Gruse’s brother), Adjudant: Sascha Nathan
Mother-in-law, Policeman Schauwa and other roles: Peter Luppa

Light Design: Ulrich Eh
Musicians: Kalle Kalima, Kai Brückner
Dramaturge: Bernd Stegemann
Music: Bert Wrede
Costume designer: Nele Balkhausen

Director

Michael Thalheimer

Main Stage

Michael Thalheimer

He was born near Frankfurt/Main in 1965. From 1985, he studied Acting in Bern and worked as an actor at various city theatres in the German-language region, before presenting his first work as a director at Theater Chemnitz in 1997. From 2005 to 2008, he was head director and a member of the executive artistic team of Deutsches Theater Berlin. He has directed productions at the Vienna Burgtheater, Schauspiel Frankfurt, Residenztheater Munich, Thalia Theater, Théâtre des Amandiers in Nanterre and the Berlin Schaubühne among others. Since Oliver Reese became artistic director of Berliner Ensemble at the beginning of the 2017/18 season, Michael Thalheimer has been the theatre’s in-house director and a member of the executive artistic team. Michael Thalheimer’s productions have received numerous distinctions, among them the television channel 3sat’s Innovation Award, the Berlin Friedrich-Luft-Preis, the Moscow “Golden Mask” twice and the Nestroy-Award several times. Many of his productions were presented at the Berlin Theatertreffen, most recently “Medea” in 2013, and at international festivals like Salzburger Festspiele, Wiener Festwochen and Festival Iberoamericano de Teatro in Bogotá.

Gallery