Liza Seneca, Alex Knox, Turner Frankosky, Gabriela Bonet, Steve Hofvendahl, Claudia Elmore and Troy Guthrie in Bertolt Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Antaeus Theatre Company at the Kiki & David Gindler Performing Arts Center. (Photo by Jenny Graham)
Liza Seneca, Alex Knox, Turner Frankosky, Gabriela Bonet, Steve Hofvendahl, Claudia Elmore and Troy Guthrie in Bertolt Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Antaeus Theatre Company at the Kiki & David Gindler Performing Arts Center. (Photo by Jenny Graham)

The Caucasian Chalk Circle

Reviewed by Terry Morgan
Antaeus Theatre Company
Through August 26

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One can see why Antaeus Theatre Company has decided to revive Bertolt Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle now. It’s a play in which the rich are revealed to be monsters of ego and avarice — where one wealthy woman even chooses an array of fancy clothing over saving her infant child. Our current sociopolitical climate, a plutocracy rife with nepotism and tax breaks for billionaires and no punishment for affluent crooks, is distressingly similar. This current production, adeptly directed by Stephanie Shroyer, brings Brecht’s message of social justice to life in impressive, entertaining fashion.

In medieval Grusinia, Grusha (Liza Seneca) is a kitchen maid to the Governor’s Wife (Claudia Elmore). When a series of coups lead to an uprising of the poor against their wealthy overlords, the Governor’s Wife flees and leaves her infant child Michael behind. Grusha, unwilling to abandon a helpless infant, takes the boy and cares for him, although it costs her dearly. Meanwhile, the opinionated but powerless village scribe, Azdak (Steve Hofvendahl), unexpectedly becomes a powerful judge. When the Governor’s Wife returns later and wants her child back from Grusha, Azdak has to determine which “mother” is better suited to raise him.

Seneca is excellent as the serious and responsible Grusha, seeming to have found just the right note of moral gravity for Brecht. She’s completely credible and sympathetic and serves the play brilliantly. Elmore is quite good as the selfish Governor’s Wife, especially in the scene where she flees; even in her panic to get away, she can’t stop berating her servants. Connor Kelly-Eiding and John Apicella are standouts among the large ensemble cast, both strong in multiple roles.

Hofvendahl, however, is superb as Azdak, stealing the show with his wily, hilarious performance. He tells jokes, explains moral conundrums, accepts bribes, insults everybody with equanimity, flirts shamelessly, sings, begs for mercy and dispenses sentences in a tour-de-force performance. I’ve enjoyed this performer’s work for many years, but this seems like a perfect meeting of actor and role, and it’s the best work I’ve ever seen this terrific actor do.

Director Shroyer uses the 16-person ensemble well and stages Brecht’s chaos with stylish intelligence. She makes it look easy, which of course it is not. Her use of the ensemble to create a river onstage is vivid and memorable. Ken Booth’s lighting design effectively invokes or changes the mood of the show in a trice, while Frederica Nascimento’s set and Erin Walley’s props combine successfully to conjure for us the country of Grusinia.

For a 70-plus-year-old play, Chalk Circle retains a remarkable amount of critical edge, and this current production does Brecht justice.

 

Kiki & David Gindler Performing Arts Center, 110 E. Broadway, Glendale; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; Mon., 8 p.m.; through Aug. 26. www.Antaeus.org. Running time: approximately two hours and 30 minutes, with an intermission.