The Caucasian Chalk Circle
27th August 1979
Small Scale Tour, RSC
This production was part of the Royal Shakespeare Company's ‘Small-Scale Tour’. It performed in a two-play repertoire with Howard Davies’ production of Much Ado About Nothing, the same actors appearing in both productions.
It toured small venues all around the UK throughout 1979 and opened at the Donmar Warehouse Theatre on 30th January 1980.
Photographs by Chris Davies and Frazer Ashford – and by kind permission of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
The Caucasian Chalk Circle
| Written by | Bertolt Brecht |
| Translated by | James and Tanya Stern with W.H. Auden |
Creative Team
| Directed by | John Caird |
| Designed by | Chris Dyer |
| Music by | Stephen Oliver |
| Lighting by | Brian Wigney |
| Musical Director | Andrew Dickson |
| Company Voice Work by | Cicely Berry |
| Assistant Designer | Louise Belson |
| Stage Manager | Helen Gaynor |
| Deputy Stage Manager | Hazel Crisp |
| Assistant Stage Managers | Helen Lovat-Fraser & Andy McKee |
Cast
| Musician / Stableman / Merchant / Azdak / Beggar | Alun Armstrong |
| Tractor Driver / Sulika / Lady / Aniko / Ludovica | Jill Baker |
| Peasant Woman / Grusha Vachnadze | Jane Carr |
| Kato Wachtang / Natella Abasvili / Merchant Woman | Charlotte Cornwell |
| Arkadi Tsheidse, a story teller | Kenneth Colley |
| Musician / Ironshirt / A Rider | Andrew Dickson |
| Delegate / Georgi Abashvili / Stableman / Bizergan Kazbeki / Sandro Oboladze | Hugh Fraser |
| Makinae Abakidse / Maro / The Elder Lady / The Peasant Woman / The Mother-in-Law / An Old Woman / A Very Old Woman | Matyelock Gibbs |
| Peasant / Nina / Blockhead / Shauva / Ironshirt | Kenny Ireland |
| Young Workman / Ironshirt / Young Farmer / Stableboy | David John |
| Solder / Simon Chachava / Blackmailer | Colin McCormack |
| The Expert / Mika Loladze / Innkeeper / Lavrenti Vachnadze / An Invalid / Illo Shuboladze | Clive Merrison |
| Surab / Arsen Kazbeki / Peasant Woman's husband / Merchant / Cripple / Farmer | Fred Pearson |
| Aleko Bereshvili / Niko Mikadze / Chef / Old Peasant / Anastasias / A Fugitive / A Doctor / An Old Man | John Rogan |
| Delegate / Corporal / Drunken Man | Roger Sloman |
| Delegate / Shalva / Yussap / Ironshirt / Irakli | Donald Sumpter |
Character appearances by scenes
1. The Struggle for the Valley
| The Expert | Clive Merrison |
| Delegates from the 'Galinsk' goat-breeding commune: | |
| Aleko Bereshvili, an old peasant | John Rogan |
| Makinae Abakidse, a peasant woman | Matyelok Gibbs |
| A Peasant | Kenny Ireland |
| A Very Young Workman | David John |
| Delegates from the 'Rosa Luxemburg' fruit-growing commune: | |
| A Peasant Woman | Jane Carr |
| A Girl Tractor Driver | Jill Baker |
| A Soldier | Colin McCormack |
| Surab, an old peasant | Fred Pearson |
| Kato Wachtang, an agriculturist | Charlotte Cornwell |
| Other Delegates | Hugh Fraser / Roger Sloman / Donald Sumpter |
| Arkadi Tsheidse, a story-teller | Kenneth Colley |
| Musicians | Alun Armstrong. Andrew Dickson |
2. The Noble Child
| Georgi Abashvili, Governor of Grusinia | Hugh Fraser |
| Natella Abashvili, his wife | Charlotte Cornwell |
| Arsen Kazbeki, a fat prince | Fred Pearson |
| Shalva, the Governor's Adjutant | Donald Sumpter |
| Mika Loladze, doctor | Clive Merrison |
| Niko Mikadze, doctor | John Rogan |
| Simon Chachava, a soldier of the Palace Guard | Colin McCormack |
| Grusha, a kitchen maid | Jane Carr |
| Sulika, a chamber maid | Jill Baker |
| Nina, an old servant | Kenny Ireland |
| Maro, a nurse | Matyelok Gibbs |
| A Stableman | Alun Armstrong |
| A Chef | John Rogan |
3. The Flight into the Northern Mountains
| The Old Peasant with the milk | John Rogan |
| The Elder Lady | Matyelok Gibbs |
| The Younger Lady | Jill Baker |
| The Innkeeper | Clive Merrison |
| The Stableman | Hugh Fraser |
| The Corporal | Roger Sloman |
| Blockhead | Kenny Ireland |
| The Peasant Woman | Matyelok Gibbs |
| The Peasant Woman's husband | Fred Pearson |
| First Merchant | Fred Pearson |
| Second Merchant | Alun Armstrong |
| Merchant Woman | Charlotte Cornwell |
4. In the Northern Mountains
| Lavrenti Vachnadze, Grusha's brother | Clive Merrison |
| Aniko, his wife | Jill Baker |
| The Mother-in-Law | Matyelok Gibbs |
| Yussap | Donald Sumpter |
| Anastasius, a monk | John Rogan |
5. The Story of the Judge
| Azdak, a village scribe | Alun Armstrone |
| A Fugitive | John Rogan |
| Shauva, a policeman | Kenny Ireland |
| The Corporal | Roger Sloman |
| Ironshirts | Donald Sumpter / Andrew Dickson / David John |
| Bizergan Kazbeki, the fat prince's nephew | Hugh Fraser |
| An Invalid | Clive Merrison |
| A Cripple | Fred Pearson |
| A Doctor | John Rogan |
| A Blackmailer | Colin McCormack |
| Ludovica | Jill Baker |
| Three Farmers | Fred Pearson / John Kogan / David John |
| An Old Woman | Matyelok Gibbs |
| Irakli, a bandit | Donald Sumpter |
6. The Chalk Circle
| Illo Shuboladze, lawyer | Clive Merrison |
| Sandro Oboladze, lawyer | Hugh Fraser |
| A Rider | Andrew Dickson |
| A Very Old Man | John Rogan |
| A Very Old Woman | Matyelok Gibbs |