The Caucasian Chalk Circle
November 1982
by Berthold Brecht, directed by Mary Jones
Cast: Marie Berry - Peasant woman, beggar, nurse, innkeeper, Mother-in-law & old woman Roy Wheeler - Old peasant & old man Lynn Trout - Girl tractor driver, doctor, servant, elegant lady & Ludovika Jim Orford - Expert from the capital, Simon Chachava, Fugitive (Grand Duke) & Fat Princes's Nephew Ben Grimsey - Old peasant, Fat prince, Lavrenti (Grusha's brother) & Ludovika's father Brian Bowker - Wounded soldier, messenger, old man, stableman, wedding guest, doctor & bandit Joyce Evans - Peasant woman, servant, merchant woman, invalid & old woman Alison Lambourne - Agriculturist, cook, elegant lady, peasant woman & wedding guest Rosie Coveney - Young worker, doctor, Aniko (Grusha's sister-in-law) & lawyer Carol Pettit - Peasant woman, beggar, servant & wedding guest Margaret Butt - Peasant woman, Natella Abashvili (Governor's wife) & wedding guest Diana Lucas - Peasant woman, Grusha Vachnadze (kitchen maid). Gordon Halliday - Narrator Fenny Gill - Narrator Rob Harris - Beggar, Architect, servant, wedding guest, limping man & farmer Juliet Stubbing - Beggar, Architect, servant, merchant woman, wedding guest & lawyer Richard Price - Ironshirt, servant, peasant, stableman John Hiley-Payne - Ironshirt, merchant & farmer James Pettit - Georgi Abashvili (Governor), servant, monk & Shauva (policeman) Steve Bright - Shalva (adjutant), blackmailer & farmer Rachel Jones - Servant, wedding guest, peasant girl & nurse Jean Gill - Servant & peasant girl Dick Dann - Corporal Yussup Steve Langfield - Blockhead Philip Jones - Azdak | Production Team: Producer - Mary Jones Production secretary - Gillian Yates Stage crew - Mike Trout, Roy Wheeler, Barry Matthews & Brian Bowker Lighting - Barry Matthews Costumes - Olive Rumford & Sarah Johnson Props - Louise Wigfield, Rosemary Stephenson & Sybil Hopson Make-up - Vicky Gill & Jan Jones Prompt - Joan Bowditch Front of House - Ron Berry & Anne Atkinson Publicity - Lynn Trout & Richard Thorne Printing - Don Badger - Original music composed by - Gillian Yates, Philip Jones & Andy Stevens Performed by - Andy Stevens & Gillian Yates |
Reviews:
From Exmouth & East Devon Journal:
....such a talented team.
Topsham players show they really are the tops
The Estuary Players at Topsham are the top amateur theatre group in the area (at least, so one of their number told me last week).
With that recommendation in mind, I went to see their latest production, Bertolt Brecht's Caucasian Chalk Circle expecting a high standard of performance.
I was not disappointed.
The play is aimed at the intelligent theatre-goer. The Estuary Players recognised this, and avoided playing down to their audience.
Stimulated
They performed their many parts - each actor had several roles to portray - at a pace which kept the audience stimulated and interested.
Faced with having to tell a simple but emotive tale and at the same time make a political point about class distinction in a country ravaged by revolution, they never let one detract from the other.
If the play was confusing at any point, it was at the beginning, when the audience had not fully warmed up. Once the actors had captured their attention, however, they kept a firm grip on it.
It hardly seems fair to pick out any particular actor as being especially outstanding. Most of the cast could have played lead roles superbly.
Energetic
But Philip Jones, as the people's judge, Azdak, and Diana Lucas, as Grusha Vachnadze, the kitchen maid who fled with the governor's baby after it was left behind during rioting, both cast a strong spell on the audience by the skill of their acting.
Of those with smaller roles, my favourite was Dick Dann, whose characterful corporal was an energetically-played delight.
The producer, Mary Jones, is lucky to have such a talented team.
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