An Interview With the Director

Liana Thompson recently sat down with Keith Langsdale, the director of UMass’ production of The Caucasian Chalk Circle to discuss his approach to and thoughts on Brecht’s play.

LT: What about The Caucasian Chalk Circle particularly speaks to you?
KL: First, the idea of nurturing, which is portrayed by the question of who is the real mother for the child. Deciding this relies on making an assessment of what real nurturing is. Society has a need and a responsibility to take care of its own and others. In this piece Brecht is commenting on that responsibility, offering that nurturing is a deciding factor in allotting land, resources, or even a child. The other theme that really speaks to me in this play is the idea of justice. What is justice? Does it have anything to do with the law? Are the two even compatible? Is justice outside the law? And can justice ever be truly reached with a strict reading of the law?

LT: In addition to themes, what kinds of influences have been propelling your approach to directing this piece?
KL: I was looking at paintings last fall and was particularly struck by those that had some kind of ordered chaos. With some input from the scenic designers, and after a variety of permutations, this led to the towers that we have on stage as part of the set. I also came across an image of a village in Africa that made a strong impression on me. Rebels were supposedly on their way toward the village and the people had run out into the jungle. They had left a baby behind, and the picture of this baby—crawling and crying, with no one around to care for it—was very striking. That helped to inspire the opening and closing moments of the show, when we have Michael alone on stage. The idea of circles was also a way into the show— from the beginning there was a desire to incorporate circles into the scenic design. Not only is the circle important because of the one drawn on the ground during the trial scene, in many other ways there are circles throughout the play. So many of the characters’ journeys are circular; both Grusha and Azdak ultimately travel back to where they came from. Nothing stays as it was. Melding the ideas of travel and of circularity, the design team came up with the idea of using a turntable on stage.

LT: The costumes have a Chinese and Tibetan influence to them. Can you tell me a bit about why this was important to you even though the story is not set in eastern Asia?
KL: I always felt that there was an Asian influence in it. Some of this comes from images I looked at that struck me—for instance an image of a Japanese bridge. Another part of it comes from the fact that Brecht admired the presentational quality of the Chinese theater. And in the setting of the play itself—the Caucasus—there is historical reference for it because of the number of cultures that have conquered the region throughout the ages. But what it really boils down to is that it always seemed, to me, like the most interesting way of making the world of the play separate from us. The costumes make the characters separate from our reality, so that we cannot casually identify with them and their story. Part of what Brecht said about theater is that it should have some distance, and this gives it some distance for us. Looking at the play, our audiences will see world where the elements don’t always fit together the way you’d expect a world to fit together; the costumes help to establish these incongruities. This is all meant to pull the audience back from the play—to give them some critical distance.

LT: Music is very important in this play, and you’ve been collaborating with composer Andy Lichtenberg to create the music for this production. What kinds of sounds will we hear in the production and what led you to these choices?
KL: When Andy and I started throwing around ideas of what the music might be like for this play, he played me a CD of a group called Bering Strait. The guys in the group were originally from Russia, and the songs they write are a compilation of American country and Russian folk music. It’s hauntingly beautiful—Russian melancholy infused into country western—an amazing sound. That sound was what really inspired us, with a little Klezmer thrown in.

LT: You’ve also been working with Troy David Mercier, a movement trainer. Tell me about the physical work he’s doing with the cast.
KL: The movement work that Troy does with the actors has a group ethic to it that I like, and it helps them to develop a sense that they are supporting each other. To do the movement they have to rely on each other—both continued on next page individual to individual and also as a group. Because they are working so closely as a unit, the actors get to know each other really quickly and learn to trust each other in a very physical way. This is really important because some of the things they work on are actually dangerous. For instance he’s worked with them on creating a human bridge for Grusha to cross, and on movements they can use to fight with each other without hurting each other. Interview with the director continued from previous page

FUN FACTS ABOUT COSTUMES

Costume Designer Bethany Marx created 84 costume renderings. The costume shop will be dyeing 26 shirts and 27 pairs of pants.

Our costume build crew is a group of students, working under the guidance of professionals, first constructed mock-ups of some of the most complicated costumes, using 4 bolts of muslin.

They will use about 185 yards of fabric to create the final products.

Costumes will require about 6 hours of ironing and prepping before every performance and 3-5 loads of laundry after.