New Version - A Rose Original Production

By Bertolt Brecht

In a new version by Steve Waters
Music by Michael Henry

Directed by Christopher Haydon

'Now hear the tale of the trial for the Governor’s child
To establish the rightful mother
Through the legendary test of the Chalk Circle'

Bertolt Brecht’s epic tale about justice and humanity is propelled into the present day, in a new version by Steve Waters (The Last King of Scotland) with original songs by Michael Henry (Barber Shop Chronicles).

In a refugee camp, a fight breaks out over lost land. To seek resolution, a singer tells the fable of ‘The Chalk Circle’: in the midst of a bloody revolution, a servant girl risks all to raise the abandoned child of the Governor and his wife. Years later, when the Governor’s wife returns seeking her son, a rogue judge turns justice on its head. Can the test of the Chalk Circle determine which of the two women is the boy’s real mother?

This production, developed in association with MGC, is directed by the Rose’s Artistic Director Christopher Haydon as part of his debut season and is the first major London production of Brecht’s tragicomic masterpiece for 25 years.