cting student Sarah Roa Photo Credit: Nancii Bernard

(Acting student Sarah Roa Photo Credit: Nancii Bernard)

Last night I saw the wonderful first production of Theatre at UBC as they presented The Caucasian Chalk Circle inside the Telus Studio Theatre inside the Chan Centre at UBC. The setting of this show couldn’t have been more apropos, the theatre is in rotunda circular form with 3 levels of seating overlooking the stage, pretty much every seat in the house had a great view as did mine.

By German poet Bertolt Brecht and Directed by Stephen Heatley, the storyline guides us through the heat of civil war where a servant girl (BFA Acting student Sarah Roa) sacrifices everything to protect an abandoned child. Their subsequent misadventures across her war-torn country become the heart of Brecht’s playful parable, which calls into question our basic assumptions of right in a world that has gone wrong.

The play is just over 3 hours with 1 intermission, its filled with some great musical scores, with many of the actors performing multiple instrumental parts. Set in the Caucasus a region bridging Europe and Asia, The Caucasian Chalk Circle is set in a fictional country of Grusinia a combination of modern day Georgia and Azurbaijan.

The Caucasian Chalk Circle runs through October 5 and you can purchase tickets here.