Hillsboro’s very own theater production of the Caucasian Chalk Circle will be coming to you, November 1-5 in the Hillsboro High School Auditorium. The first show of Hillsboro Players’s EPIC season opens this week and the dramatic performers are excited to share this timely political piece with our community. Each performance begins at 7:00 pm.

In addition to each night’s performance, a special event will take place after the Saturday Night performance. The “EPIC Talk Back” event after Saturday’s show will enable our audience to learn more the process of acting!

The Caucasian Chalk Circle was written by Bertolt Brecht and adapted by Eric Bentley for Hillsboro’s performance of this production. This show is based on a Chinese parable called “The Chalk Circle” and takes place in the a war-torn village in the Caucasus Mountains. A parable is a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson.

Will Butler and Kristen Moon are the theater program directors and are responsible for the incredible plays put on every year by the Hillsboro Players. The play’s setting takes place during World War II and details the story of Arusha and her adopted child as they flee through the Caucasus Mountains. Moon explains,  “It’s a unique style of theatre that is taught in college theatre programs and has been challenging to the actors and directors.”

Moon described this play experience as “visceral” and one that she thinks will be extremely beneficial to the students. When asked her why she and Butler chose the play, Moon said it “fit into the epic season”.

An “epic” is a type of political theater that demonstrates contradicting beliefs.  It is a thought-provoking style of theater production,  and one that Hillsboro students have not seen before.

Although the play was written in 1944, the morals still hold true to this day.  According to Noah Henry, a sophomore at Hillsboro who plays Simon Shashava, Arusha’s love interest, states, “the play is references political ties to current events.”  He believes this will make a positive impact on the its audience.

Hillsboro High School encourages both its students and teachers to be better citizens and to have a positive influence on their communities. Moon and Butler want to challenge the theater students to make positive impacts on their community as well. 

Grab your tickets at www.hillsboroplayers.com or at the door, and enjoy the Hillsboro HHS Players version of  The Caucasian Chalk Circle.

For more information, contact the Hillsboro Globe at [email protected].

Editor’s Note: Theater and art’s aesthetic value can be derived from its ability to offer an audience a cleansing moment of catharsis.

Catharsis is most often defined as the “purging” of the emotions of pity and fear that occurs when we watch a tragedy. 

Given the past week’s events, the themes of societal unrest in a fragmented post war setting, Brecht’s depiction of political narcissism and his focus social justice are all the timely and important. Using a parable motif of a play within a play allows the audience to dive into the subject matter and leave with a sense of restoration and renewal.