The play I am going to compare our play to, is Kramer vs. Kramer, written by Avery Corman this piece was set in the 70’s in New York. Kramer vs. Kramer is about two parents going through a divorce, and they are fighting for the custody of the child. However, our piece was set in a modern time about 10 years ago, before the electric theatre was built. The other play was similar, because the mother leaves at the beginning of the film and she packs her bags like the governors wife. Also in the trial scene the father’s speech is very similar to Grusha’s speech in the Caucasian Chalk Circle. The cook is similar to Margaret in Kramer vs. Kramer because she is supporting the father and she is one of his closest friends. Which applys to the cook because she works for the governor’s wife then goes to Grusha’s side during the trail scene. The main similarities is that in both plays the plot twists at the end, when you think the birth mother has the child the father in Kramer vs. Kramer and Grusha in Caucasian Chalk Circle, gets the baby.
One of the differences of the two plays are that they are set in different places; Kramer vs. Kramer is set in New York while Caucasian Chalk Circle is set in a mythical place that we never find out the name of. Our play was set around the time an old electricity building was made into the electric theatre. Kramer vs. Kramer was set in the 70’s you can tell this by their behaviour and workplaces. In the Caucasian Chalk Circle two women are fighting over the child, Grusha and the mother. Grusha is a single girl, who chooses to take on the responsibility of a child. While in Kramer vs. Kramer the mother is divorced she breaks away and becomes independent, leaving the responsibility of her child to the father opposed to a married couple who gains independence and looses child. The surroundings of the two plays are very different one is in the modern world and the other is in a farming community. In Kramer vs. Kramer the mother loves her child very much, unlike the Governors wife and the inexperienced father is blood related unlike Grusha who independently takes care of a child. In Caucasian chalk circle we wore normal clothes with extras over the top that we retrieved from baskets that were positioned on stage. In Kramer vs. Kramer they wear distinctly 70s style clothes, such as the dad wears flares and basically clothes from around that era.
The realism of the film contrasts against Brechtian style of writing and directing, his is more of a parable. Kramervs. Kramer wants its audience to relate to the emotions and issues in the film, while Brecht didn’t want his audience to be too drawn into his play. In both plays there is a climax leading up to the trail scene, which was the most important part of our play and
The people who appear in our production are mainly the protagonists; basically they are either very rich or very poor with not many between. These people are Grusha, Simon her fiancé, the governor’s wife and her lawyers, the peasants and the ironshirts. Grusha and her supporters were of a lower social status while the Governors wife and her lawyers are of a higher status. In contrast, Kramer vs. Kramer had fairly similar social background. You could tell this, because of the way they both dressed, and spoke. They were distinctly middle class. Also from the way they all lived you could tell they were quite wealthy.
The culture of the Caucasian chalk circle was very much high born vs. lowborn, if you had no money and no position in society you would have been a peasant working for a lord. The law at the time of this play was probably very much corrupt and unjust with judges like azdak taking bribes for justice. The way Grusha’s trial turned out was most likely unheard of in those times with the high born always getting what they wanted. The ironshirts probably had enough weak power to do as they liked in the name of this ‘justice’ such as raping and other similar unworthy deeds.
In conclusion, I would like to say that I learnt a lot from being in the play. You are constantly being watched on stage and the slightest move you make may distract the audience. I also had the opportunity to be in a drama competition which gave me a lot of confidence and also made me closer to the class as a group. I have also learnt a lot about Brecht and his style of writing, which I enjoy a lot. I think without this experience I would not understand my own contribution that I can give to a group; I will make use of this new learned confidence in future performances.
