A Rose Original Production
‘Now hear the tale of the trial for the Governor’s childTo establish the rightful motherThrough the legendary test of the Chalk Circle’
In this new version by Steve Waters (Limehouse, Donmar Warehouse), an epic and entertaining tale about justice and humanity is propelled into the present with original songs by Michael Henry (Barber Shop Chronicles, National Theatre) and a cast featuring Carrie Hope Fletcher as Grusha Vashnadze.
In a refugee camp, a fight breaks out over lost land. To seek resolution, a singer tells the fable of ‘The Chalk Circle’: in the midst of a bloody revolution, a servant girl risks all to raise the abandoned child of the Governor and his wife. Years later, when the Governor’s wife returns seeking her son, a rogue judge turns justice on its head. Can the test of the Chalk Circle determine which of the two women is the boy’s real mother?
This production, developed in association with MGC, is directed by the Rose’s Artistic Director Christopher Haydon as part of his debut season and is the first major London production of Brecht’s tragicomic masterpiece for 25 years.