Legend of the Chalk Circle
by James Cougar Canfield
Synopsis
A queer retelling inspired by Bertolt Brecht’s "The Caucasian Chalk Circle" and the many legends of the circle that have come before.
A revolution has erupted in Grusinia, the governor has been beheaded, his wife, Natella, has fled, their newborn has been left behind. Vash, a servant boy, discovers the child, and begins an adventure across the Caucus Mountains to save the baby and his own life, all while guided by visions of variants from previous versions of his own story. Meanwhile, Azdak, a hapless peasant and the reincarnation of King Solomon, finds himself as the new judge of Grusinia. When the child's biological mother returns to claim the baby, Vash, Azdak, and Natella, come head to head in an ultimate showdown for custody of the child.
Inspired by the Judgement of Solomon, Li Qianfu's The Chalk Circle, and many more variations of the classic tale, Legend of the Chalk Circle combines music, mask-work, puppetry, comedy, and modern language to explore what it means to be a parent, and how can one truly matter in this war-torn world.
Potential for medium to large sized cast, opportunities for doubling
Zany comedy, heartwarming adventure
Adult language and content, moments of child endangerment and attemped sexual assault
Reviews
“In true fairytale and some hilarious and just plain silly jokes, and some very dramatic moments, this play is worthy of any ancient or modern tale out there. I’d say Mr. Canfield is a modern Grimm brother worth gold or Broadway!”
BRING OUR WORK TO YOU
Tier5 currently has offers this show for co-producing, presenting, and licensing.
Co-produce. Let’s share our resources and build the show together from the ground up!
Present. We come to you! Have your theatre present our previously produced production of Tier5, either with our actors entirely or a mix of Tier5 actors and local talent.
License. Put on your own production of one of our scripts.
If interested in any of the above options, send an email of interest to tier5auditions@gmail.com and we’ll start the dialogue!