psmv5: Chalk circle

Just about a fortnight ago to the chalk circle of reference 1 at the Rose Theatre at Kingston. Just about the only serious play that they are doing this season - having lost the contribution of Northern Broadsides, whom I had thought disbanded, but it seems from reference 3 that they are alive and well. Maybe they have reformed after the departure of the founder. Maybe the fact that they appear to be called 'Northern Broadsides 2022' is a clue. Maybe it is a funding problem; another victim of austerity.

Much confusion on the road in, with it being quite unclear to us at any one point as to whether the speed limit was 20, 30 or 40mph. All that seemed to be clear was that it kept changing. It seems a bit unfair to penalise people for failing to work out this particular puzzle while trying to pay attention to the road ahead.

Checked for the fish in the Hogsmill to find then all present and correct at their usual station at the north eastern corner of the bridge. The floating contraption still present. Perhaps the volunteers disbanded without clearing their stuff up. See reference 4 for previous notice.

No programmes to be had at the theatre and my email to them afterwards suggesting they put the programme online as a pdf elicited no response. Apparently they had just enough to supply the people who had pre-ordered for the last two performances - the afternoon and evening of the day in question - and that was it. Irritating.

Theatre pretty full on this occasion, with a lot more younger people than I was expecting, not just the pensioner crew. And the front stalls that we were in seemed to be different, certainly a lot more comfortable than we remembered, although the inferior two person benches were still present behind us. Perhaps they had just done away with the sitting on the floor option.

An adaptation of the original, with the first half mostly given over to song and dance, music and movement, and I nodded through most of it. Some of the music and movement was clever and one wondered how much rehearsal time had been given over to that side of things, rather than the words. But then, music and movement is what luvvies are trained to these days. Never mind the long dead words of long dead playwriters.

The second half stuck a bit closer to the original and I was fully awake, maybe helped along by a drop of something in the interval. Quite a lot of topical material slotted in, presumably to replace material which was topical in the 1940's but which would pass a modern audience by. In much the same way as they usually tweak the dialogue in Gilbert & Sullivan productions to bring them up to date.

Cast mostly very young and inexperienced, but stiffened by a good performance by Jonathan Slinger as the judge. Perhaps best known for doing Wonky in 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' in London at Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Wouldn't have recognised the chap we saw at the theatre from the snap above.

We were reminded of the advantages of a modern theatre, with a big open stage that everyone can see. Good set on this occasion, without being too elaborate. Setting in time and place vaguely right, which is how I like it. Also, as it happens, how I like my Shakespeare, not being very keen on translations of either time or place.

Out to try our luck at Stein's, which had looked very shut when we arrived in town, but that turned out to be a trick of their lighting, with the restaurant being a narrow but deep establishment, running down to an outdoor area over the river. A place we appear to have visited a couple of times back in 2015, but not returned to since. See reference 6. A place which was busy on this occasion, but they fitted us in, provided we did not take more than a couple of hours, which is usually plenty of time for us.

Some rather heavy bread to start, probably fresh from freezer and microwave. Followed by some excellent sausage and chips, properly potatoes sautéed with some bits of bacon and so forth. Sausage quite like the Sicilian sausages last noticed at reference 7. Some discussion about whether we wanted one portion or two. Took one, then another, which came quickly enough and was more than enough. Quite full by the time that we had finished.

Another go at their Bavarian cooked cheesecake for dessert. Not bad, but still a shop job, not the same as freshly cooked at home. Not to mention all the unwanted extras.

Wine perfectly satisfactory, although I might say that we paid a good deal for it - a Salzl Seewinkelhof Grüner Veltliner - than they want at reference 7. Maybe five times more. Just a little greedy, but I would be sorry to see the place go, even if we do not go very often. And the food is quite cheap for what you get.

A discussion about the merits of individual tips versus collective tips, which last is now pretty much the norm in the wake of Covid. BH started individual, saying she got lots of tips in her days as a waitress at Butlins - but she worked hard for them. She didn't see why she should share among her less energetic colleagues. To be fair, she did allow that one couldn't really keep it up. Six weeks in the summer holiday, maybe. The whole season, no. An interesting miniaturisation of the whole individual versus collective thing. I miss not tipping, partly because it is included in the bill automatically, partly because I don't carry the right sort of cash around anymore, but I think I am for the collective: there will always be slackers, but hopefully in a well-run and well-led establishment most of them will be shamed into activity.

Then on the way to the car park, I was touched for a fiver by some quite young girls in Halloween gear, collecting for Shooting Star of reference 11. I thought they were a bit young to be collecting in pubs and restaurants on a Saturday evening, but BH thought that it was early enough, say around 19:00, for it to be OK.

Car park having been pretty full when we arrived early afternoon was pretty empty when we left early evening.

The aftermath

Somehow, before we went, I turned up a post in the blog which suggested that we had been to a production of the play in the west end about ten years earlier. But after the event, exhaustive search failed to turn it up again. And Bing claimed that the last revival was that of the National, more than twenty years ago, well before blog life started.

But this morning, trying again, I find that it was indeed revived by the National in 1995, but went on to tour in 2007. Search of reference 9 for chalk and caucasian again fails to find anything relevant, search for both at once fails to find anything. All very tiresome.

Next stop, Epsom Library, to find that drama is included with literature, the whole being confined to maybe 6 metres of shelf. And foreign drama almost invisible.

Last stop, Bourne Hall Library, where I find that the Performing Arts Library has been split off from Surry Libraries, but is now to be permanently housed at Bourne Hall and is to be found at reference 10. Most of their space is given over to scores, but they still have a good chunk on theatre, including maybe a metre of shelf space given over to Brecht. From which I borrow a fat literary biography, one free standing copy of the play and one in volume six or so of the collected plays. More accessible than the ancient facsimile I downloaded from the Internet - 'Digitalized by RevSocialist for SocialistStories', whatever that might be. Page one snapped above.

So far, I have learned that Brecht was an interesting chap, an able but sensitive child who was all for Kaiser, Germany and war in 1914 but who had changed his tune by the middle of the war. No doubt there will be further report in due course.

All in all, an interesting outing. And it would be even more interesting to now go to a version that stuck a bit closer to the original.

References

Reference 1: Caucasian chalk circle - Bertolt Brecht - 1944.

Reference 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Caucasian_Chalk_Circle.

Reference 3: https://www.northern-broadsides.co.uk/.

Reference 4: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2021/07/water-rats.html.

Reference 5: https://rosetheatre.org/whats-on/the-caucasian-chalk-circle/about.

Reference 6: https://psmv2.blogspot.com/search?q=stein+kingston.

Reference 7: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2022/10/baked-sausage.html.

Reference 8: https://salzl.at/product/gruener-veltliner-2021/?lang=en.

Reference 9: https://pumpkinstrokemarrow.blogspot.com/.

Reference 10: https://www.newspal.org.uk/.