Brecht in Asia and Africa 
 
 
freedom to "perform" and that were not to be inhibited by immediate

experience. 
    The structure of The Caucasian Chalk Circle requires the use of a 
ballad-singer's recitation as the main method of narration to express 
thoughts and feelings. Therefore it was a great problem to coordinate 
music, drama and narrative into a coherent whole. We used 
choreographed movements, mime, and martial arts techniques to bring 
out fully spatial and temporal fluidity on the stage. To this we added 
hypothetical and symbolic settings. The actors' body movements 
formed a lively composition on stage. Sound effects and lighting were 
designed to reveal, so that the audience could not forget they were in 
the arena of performance and could not escape from theatricality. 
Entertainment and artistic appreciation happen concurrently, so one 
can expect a true dialogue between emotion and reason. 
     Research into and use of Brechtian art not only forms a link 
between the theatre workers in China and the pulse of international 
theatre movement, it also stimulates our respect, fervor for, and 
reassessment of our own superb traditional theatrical heritage. 
     We would not like to be simply labelled Brecht's vanguard or 
proponents. Nor would we claim to be Brecht's disciples, just as we 
once impotently professed to be Stanislavsky's disciples. We must 
develop our indigenous performance style in the process of learning 
from others. 
     Brecht said that comprehensive changes in the theater were 
brought about through the inspiration of the artists and that these 
changes must match the changes in the spirit of the age. China now is 
experiencing irrepressible transformations in its politics, economy, 
culture and the arts. Its experience progresses from isolation to 
opening, from the static to the fluid, from single-tracked to multi- 
dimensional movement in its historical process. The struggle between 
tradition and transformation, repression and creativity, is moving 
towards a polarization. We have taken a definite step forward in our 
cultural progress and our critical self-examination. Our tradition of 
representation and our aesthetic sense are now confronting a 
momentous and inescapable task. Therefore it is natural that the whole 
of our cultural front is turning its focus on Brecht. We are grateful for
his 
enlightenment and help. The China Youth Art Theatre's production of 
The Caucasian Chalk Circle is certainly different from the original 
Berliner Ensemble production. It is also different from any other 
productions elsewhere. It can be viewed as the personal interpretation 
of the cast and of the director. It is a theatrical experience which awaits

the critical appraisal of the audience. 
     Thank you. 
 
 
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