Thoughts on the use of accents

Mr. Chapman asked the class their opinion of his casting the lawyers as caricatures with curled handlebar moustaches speaking in some strange accents which make them appear somewhat silly.  Mr. Chapman wondered if it would be distracting for comical professional men to be on with Grusha, who is kind, serious and very human.

Frau Wagner gave the best advice – refer back to Brecht’s text.  How the lines are given in the actual text of the play should be the best way to present them.

Mr. Chapman was very concerned about the use of accents in general for his production.  It seems that many of the actors had been assuming various types of accents to deliver their lines.  Some used Chinese, Russian, British and even some odd undistinguished accents.  He felt that perhaps it would be better to lose the accents altogether and speak the lines naturally.  (‘Naturally’ meaning a southern accent, which would sound natural to the actors and the UALR audience.)   I tend to agree and I think that Brecht would too.

When the BBC interviewed Helene Weigel during a special on Brecht, she made the statement:

“Brecht didn’t want the actors with their parts rehearsed to rehearsals.  We started with books, and a long time with books in our hands not learning our parts by heart.  And he begged us, please be careful, remember every point where you in reading was astonished at what you read, and this same point, this was Brecht’s opinion, the audience will be astonished.”

Here is a link to that interview, and Weigel’s quote begins about 1:45 (one minute 45 seconds) into the clip:

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LlYv6iytDY&feature=related

This “astonishment” that an actor might feel at certain points of a play on the first reading would, in my opinion, be in a natural voice.

German Language for the Theatre Student

One thought continues to occur to me; many of the theatre students could profit by taking German language courses.  I come to this conclusion by the way many of them are open to German words and expressions, and have been incorporating the German words that they hear in class into their everyday speech (zB. der Verfremdungseffekt).  The theatre department could be a place that is ripe for German language student recruitment.

Continued discussion of Scene 2 and Staging

On Monday, we continued working on scene 2 by finishing the presentation by Timmy and Stephen.  There was much discussion about whether or not the staging of the play would lose impact by omitting scene 1, the prolog set during World War II.  In the UALR production of the Caucasian Chalk Circle the prolog has been omitted due to time constraints.  With the prolog included, the play would run over three hours.  For a student production with severely limited rehearsal time (usually in the neighborhood of one or two hours twice per week for just a few weeks), and the addition of dance numbers and original music for operatic voice there would simply not be enough time to present Chalk Circle with the prolog.  Besides, a show that long would overly stress the audience.  Some class members felt that by keeping the prolog the Marxist idea of ‘greater good’ would be doubly reinforced.  Also, the inclusion or the prolog would be more true to Brecht’s original concept for the play and make the production more historically accurate.  Brecht had put the prolog into the play, so he meant it to be there. 

However, one must remember that the very first staging of Caucasian Chalk Circle was done without the prolog in 1948 at Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota.

This photo came from that premier production at Carleton College.  Though it is from the final scene, it is the only photo of this play in their archives.  I still think that it is worth viewing.

A look at the Governor's Wife

Scene 2 begins the actual story of the Chalk Circle as presented by the “singer.”  The characters are presented as ‘one dimensional’ very shallow, uncomplicated people.  This requires more effort from the audience to understand the charachter.  For example, the majority of the class viewed the Governor’s Wife, Natella, as being more interested in saving her possessions than her baby as the city was being overrun by an invading army with riots in the streets.  They saw her as a bad mother who quickly abandoned her own child.

On closer reading, one sees that it was the custom in those days to leave child rearing to others.  In this case the Governor and his Wife had hired two doctors and a nurse, Maro, to look after their child’s wellbeing.  They even went so far as to hold the doctors accountable if the child even had a runny nose.

In the confusion of the Governor’s Wife preparation to leave the city, the Nurse hands the child to Grusha.  It was the Nurse who ran away leaving Grusha in charge of the child.  After spending the night in the empty house with the child, Grusha finally takes it and leaves.

As Grusha leaves with the child, the Singer describes her:

“Like booty she took it for herself – Like a thief she sneaked away.”

Here is a link to a song by Mark Nichols for the end of Scene 2, titled “And the Child Called to Her”:

http://www.thereallybig.com/ccc/09%20And%20the%20Child%20Called%20to%20Her.mp3  (patience.  It takes a minute or so to load.  And, oh yes, this music is not nearly as pretty or enjoyable to listen to as the soundtrack from “Elisabeth”.)

Wednesday, 2.2.2011

Today in class after an excellent report by Anneliese on Germany History 1918-1933 there was a short discussion of chapter 2 of “The Caucasian Chalk Circle.” 

The main point of the discussion seemed to be that the action depicted in the play could take place almost anywhere and anytime in history.  It was a time of war and social unrest.  It was a time of upheaval and fighting in the streets.  When I got after class, the first image that popped up on my computer showed today’s unrest in Egypt:

 

*Street protests in Egypt, February 2, 2011 as reported on foxnews.com.

This could be right out of Scene 2 of CCC.  All they need is some pretty music.

So check it out!  Here is some music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4acBtoF1Q4M&feature=related

.