A tale of class

Date - April 2019

Venue - Reagan Theatre, Stamford American International School, Singapore

Director - Andy Tear

The Caucasian Chalk Circle was the first exposure to the plays and works of Bertolt Brecht. Outside academic learning, I had never before engaged with Brechtian works, and although this particular production was not staged in an extremely Brechtian manner, it still contained the quintessential elements that make Brechtian work so unique (narration, breaking the 4th wall, multi-roling, etc). 

This production was a valuable lesson in collaboration and trust, both in oneself and in one's castmates. It was a mix of adapting one's own body to playing different characters believably,  while working together as an ensemble when needed. For instance, I had to play 6 roles at different points, work as a musician accompanying the several songs, and form part of a human bridge that a character walked down on. 

This experience exposed me to the multi-faceted aspects of Epic/Brechtian Theatre. The socio-political side, that provokes thought. The theatrical side, which admits that the spectacle on stage is merely an illusion, and not reality, and the emotional side, where we are transformed by a story. While many academic sources try and spin Brecht's works as lacking emotion, Brecht himself said that "it would be quite wrong to try and deny emotion to this kind of theatre. It would be much the same as trying to deny emotion to modern science". (Bertolt Brecht)

Taking on this show, while juggling academic work on the side was a challenge, but I, along with the rest of the cast rose to it magnificently, and I'm tremendously proud of the work we have all achieved.

Photo Gallery 

Photos courtesy of Stamford American International School, Singapore.