When they were handing out sports journalists, the British rugby community must have been in the toilet. The Blacks arrive today for their first tour of all four Home Unions since 1983, attempting a Grand Slam achieved only once in a century of Black rugby. But British newspapers have largely responded to the biggest event of international rugby the UK can provide outside a World Cup with hyperbole about an incident from four months ago. That Mealamu and Umage went unpunished by touch judge, referee or match commissioner, is galling. But O’Ddriscoll himself said in a recent BBC interview, “It is time to move on.” He actually went much further, adding “I don’t have any grudges against Tana or Keven… I would have no problem having a beer with Tana.” O’Ddriscoll knows these things are part of rugby. His injury, at least, had no effect on the outcome of the series. But in the 2003 World Cup semi-final, Nnew Zealand’s hopes were ended when Aaustralian flanker George Smith took out their best player Justin Marshall, with a late tackle. The 2001 Lions’ fortunes turned when their key player, Richard Hill, was taken out by a flying elbow from Nathan Grey. Nneither Grey nor Smith were banned.Rrugby simply has an institutional problem in dealing with foul play of this sort. There is a citing procedure in place, but the match commissioners responsible for applying it bottle it when it comes to the biggest incidents. Who would be the man to ban the Black Captain during a Lions series in Zealand? Or a key Wallaby from the World Cup final in Sydney? It isn’t just southern hemisphere players who get away with it; in 2001 Martin Johnson all but shattered McRrae’s ribcage, stamping and knee-dropping a man half his size: he was banned precisely until the day before the Six Nnations started. The O’Ddriscoll incident has given this problem unprecedented attention. But it has been wasted, centred on the wrong offenders. Umaga and Mealamu were reckless, but it is their job to be aggressive rugby players. Touch judge Cole, who saw their actions from metres away and failed to even inform the referee, and match commissioner Willem Venter, who somehow decided there was no case to investigate, were there to guard against foul play and their abject failure to do so makes them the real villains of the piece.With an upcoming IRB conference focusing on foul play, here was an opportunity to finally tighten up the citing procedure and cut down on foul play. But it has been lost, as those with a voice about rugby concentrated on immature mud-flinging. rugby fans, we really do deserve better.Even worse, the only likely long term effect of this hysterical ranting is to create more, not fewer, such incidents.The incident, of course, is Lions’ captain Brian O’Ddriscoll’s ongoing injury, inflicted by Blacks’ Keven Mealamu and Captain Tana Umaga. I’m not defending them – picking up, flipping over and dumping players onto the ground is illegal and dangerous precisely because it can cause such serious injuries even when it isn’t intentional. I have little patience with ex-Blacks like Zinzan Brooke, so keen to put the incident in the past that they forget to condemn it.ARCHIVE: 4th week MT 2005

Jesus 2-Brasenose 5; Balliol 2-Worcester 3: ‘To err is human; to forgive, divine,’ said Alexander Pope, but Jesus fans will be likely to disagree after Friday’s Cuppers match. despite standing toe-to-toe with Brasenose for ninety minutes, the home side were floored by two moments of humiliating disaster, rendering their Cuppers dreams lifeless for another year.This was a match defined by Jesus’ calamities. The first came in the opening five minutes as keeper Joe dicoco allowed a deflected cross through his legs. While Jesus recovered from this mishap, the second, just after half-time, was a death-knell. The goalkeeper was again at fault, punching a harmless ball straight to the feet of a Brasenose forward. The devastation of the green shirts at the final whistle revealed the impossibility for this side to forgive two short but devastating seconds of complacency.From the start it appeared as though Jesus’ concentration was not quite complete. Brasenose’s Jack rutherford bullied through two non-tackles played a one-two with John ditchburn before firing it into the six yard box, where it deflected off the knee of Jesus’ Jans Ibur, and past the keeper. Brasenose’s tails were up, and Jesus were lucky not to leak another. It took twenty minutes for Jesus to rouse themselves from their coma. On the half-hour mark they forced a series of corners, the third of which was handled on the line by dave Harling. Graham Parrot converted the spot kick and the comeback was complete.That was until dicoco’s moment of madness; miscuing an attempted punch and providing Harling with the easiest goal of his career. It was the final demoralising blow for brave Jesus. 15 minutes later Tom Brown fired in from the edge of the box before capped a fine performance smashing home from ten yards to make it four. Jesus attempted a late flurry through a ryan West goal, but the resurgence was brief. The earlier errors had taken too much out of the home side and restored the three-goal lead minutes later to seal the win. Meanwhile, another fancied side were finding life much more difficult. Balliol, despite holding the Cup, were relegated last season and are currently pointless a month into the season. But they challenged high-flying Worcester despite a lack of class. Worcester scored 11 goals in their opening two matches and throughout this match showed their class. with counter attacks and swift passing that left Balliol dazed at best and utterly broken apart at worst.Yet it was Balliol who took the lead on 28 minutes. andrew James fighting off Worcester challenges to head in a James doree throw-in. Calmly, the visitors drew level ten minutes later when Sam rowlands crossed from the left for Vince Vitale to head in. Before long Worcester had turned the tie around. Alex Toogood dipossessed James, darted to the byline and cut back a low cross into the area for to flick into the right-hand corner. Julian rose’s Balliol just would not lie down, however, as daniel Lennon pulled back an unlikely equaliser after 66 minutes. Charlie Sheldon felled Lennon inside the area and suffered the punishment when the striker himself fired the penalty down the middle of the goal past Wrigley.As both sides tired, chances came at either end. It was Worcester who stole the glory with 15 minutes to go as Toogood, under pressure from a crowd of defenders, lost possession in the box, but the ball broke to Hoddiss on the right of the spot to sweep into the Balliol net. Balliol searched for another equaliser, but it was not to be. "I’ve got high hopes providing we can hold on to a few players," said Hobbiss, whose college finished third in the Premier division and fell in the Cuppers quarter-finals last time round. "I think we should do very well. Last season we were top at Christmas and then fell away, so [we hope to] put it together for a whole season. That’d be nice."  ARCHIVE: 4th week MT 2005

Keble 0Hertford 1: On the afternoon of Halloween, Keble and Hertford dished up a spectacle of football that was more treat than trick. In this one-goal thriller, Hertford triumphed in the battle for leadership of divsion One . It was rip-roaring stuff right from the off, with pint-sized Hertford keeper, John dowie, flicking over an early free kick from richard Craig. Soon after, Keble’s Tom Collins motored forward down the left, with his attempted lob floating inches wide. Hertford were soon involved, and their effervescent football dominated the rest of a breathless first half. In the 20th minute Tom Parker powered a free header over the goal, while the Hertford midfield were dictating play effectively.Then came the turn of the woodwork. In the 27th minute one of many excellent corner deliveries by Craig was flicked to rich Capper who powered the ball towards goal, only for dowie to divert it onto the bar. The Keble post was in action moments later as a Hertford through ball was controlled by striker Constantin albot who lifted the ball over goalkeeper Southern, only to see it rebound off the woodwork. as bonfire night approaches, this was the wood fighting back.After half-time, the fireworks soon restarted, with Hertford taking the lead on 50 minutes. a Keble back pass gave Hertford an indirect free kick just five yards out. The ball was tapped to Hertford captain, John Creighton, who smashed an uncompromising piledriver which flew past the mass of defensive bodies and past the goalkeeper. Keble piled forward to preserve their status as division leaders. But their attacks were too direct and were gobbled up by the superb David Beatham in defence. There was more method in the Hertford attacks, with Okusaga and Pete Meiklejohn on the wings and rob Knight up front picking their way through the Keble defence. The latter had a shot well saved by a sprawling Southern when clean through in the 80th minute. The only Keble attack of note was a disallowed goal from a Craig free kick, ruled out for a push in the area. players tired, the game deteriorated and Hertford held on for the win.  ARCHIVE: 4th week MT 2005

St Peter’s 30St Catherine’s 13"Back with the old" was the St Peter’s cry as they crushed St Catherine’s, the new kids on the block at the top of college rugby. Catz, on the back of a win over Cuppers holders St Edmund Hall, were looking for a follow-up win over the League holders which would have effectively made them the new champions. However, they were swept away by a fired-up St Peter’s side which displayed some scintillating handling and support play. Peter’s now face a title decider against Hall next week, while Catz are reduced to chasing a cricket score against exeter in the hope results elsewhere will go in their favour.The manner of victory will have warmed the heart of the Peter’s old guard. Catz were passionate, physical, and at times highly creative and imaginative in attack. early on, a classic looked on the cards as Catz made the most of their opportunities to take an early lead. However, as so often in the past, Peter’s oustanding fitness, desire and precision in attack put the game beyond their opponents; Peter’s scored three tries in the second half, turning a potential nail-biter into a more than comfortable victory.Peter’s showed they had their big game heads on early on, taking first blood with a try in the corner after only five minutes of the match. However, Catz have proven this season an early deficit does not rattle them. Fullback Tom reessoon had Catz on the scoreboard, a dazzling run from fly half by Henry Haslam forcing a penalty which he cooly converted from the touchline. With conditions perfect for running rugby, Peter’s looked to assert themselves on the game, the pack dominating posession, the defence squeezing Catz in midfield, and pivot rob Unwin finding numerous holes in the Catz defence. But Catz held firm, Timmy Carpenter and danny O’driscoll combining to prevent what seemed a certain try on the 20 minute mark. Then, almost against the run of play, they took the lead. a box kick from scrum half richard Godfrey pushed Peter’s onto the back foot; at the ensuing scrum, a huge Catz shove allowed tireless flanker James Menzies to charge down and score. Unwin converted a penalty with the last kick of the half, and sent Catz in 10-8 ahead of their rival. The second half began in Catz’s favour as Peter’s poor discipline allowed rees to put his side 13-8 ahead. at this point, Peter’s seemed to step up a gear, attacking relentlessly through some superb offloading in the tackle and support play. Though the Catz backline held out the barrage for some time, Peter’s eventually barrelled over under the posts, gaining a 15-13 lead with Unwin’s conversion. They soon had another, as the pack charged down the blindside, releasing their right winger down the touchline and under the post. another outstanding offload in attack assured Peter’s fourth try, and the lead was 27-13. Unwin then effectively ended the contest, kicking a penalty to put Catz needing three tries. Only some spirited objections to the somewhat overzealous St. Peter’s scrum half punctuated the remaining period before an inevitable win was confirmed. Peter’s were deserved winners, having displayed strength and control throughout the team. The Catz side, who played well in patches, will rue the unforced errors that plagued their game and preventing making a more persistent challenge.Catz Captain Fergus O’Sullivan, summed up their disappointment: "When so much was at stake we just couldn’t find our composure. It wasn’t for a lack of spirit – we just didn’t really find our rhythm today." For St Peter’s, the next game against St Hall represents the final hurdle to a perfect season. Victory there will seal a convincing defence of their division One title and one can only wait with baited breath to see if any team can muster the reserve to topple this side from their perch.  ARCHIVE: 4th week MT 2005

Oxford 20Les Blues, on Monday by following a great performance from last week with a disappointing effort this week. against Wasps, the Blues were ahead after 30 minutes but on Monday a series of defensive lapses saw Harlequins out of sight by half-time before the match descended into a near-brawl by the end. Robin Bridge hanging off his back, powered over the line. Mike Brown’s mazy run deceived every player that came close and after he converted his own try, which made the score 12-0 after only eight minutes, the Blues looked like they might be completely routed. Jon Fennell kicked a decent penalty but Greenwood was soon at it again. england’s current record try scorer performed a gloriously cheeky pass behind his back after another ‘Quins break and only some last-minute defence prevented another try.Dalgleish’s indiscretion. ‘Quins eased off and the Blues had a great period of attacking play. There was still time for two more fights, with Harris and Jones once again at the centre of the action. The game ran into injury time and with the last action of the match, Anthony Knox scored an inspired solo effort. running down the line, Knox played an inventive grubber kick which he scooped up and deposited over the line. Whittingham converted the try to save the Blues’ dignity with a full-time score of 20-43.  NEC  Harlequins 43Oxford’s rugby team mimicked another blue clad rugby team, The inclusion of four internationals in the ‘Quins team was always going to cause the Blues’ defence trouble, but few would have predicted the ease with which they were sliced open by the speed of the visitors. While Harlequins’ backs were formidable, the ability of the Oxford line to react looked woeful and oportunities were gifted at regular intervals. an over-reliance on kicking also put Tom Tombleson and Jonan Boto, the Blues’ wingers, out of the game and gave Harlequins extremely long periods of possession.There were, however, some positives to take from the Blues’ performance. doug abbott was on fine form in the pack and Boto scored another of his trademark tries. However, a lack of discipline was clearly evident, with four fights occurring through the match, one consuming almost all the players and another lasting for at least two minutes. Lock adam Harris was particularly involved and James Jones was also sent to the sin bin. The referee, ed Turnill, struggled to keep control and every ruck looked like it had the potential to combust into a raging fire of aggression.The match started poorly for the home side when Greenwood picked a hole in the Blues’ defence and, despite The first altercation of the match occurred at the mid point of the first half when Harris tussled with Lorne Ward. Ward was the protagonist and was lucky to stay on the pitch but Harris seemed to be able to stir up trouble throughout the night with only a few words. The resulting line out was driven over the line with abbbot officially getting the ball down. Oxford seemed to have contained the opposition but a slow reaction by the Blues let Samoan international George Harder score unopposed. When attacking possession, the team looked promising, but Greenwood and the rest of the ‘Quins backs were causing persistent problems and their pressure paid off when James Inglis scored to leave Oxford trailing 8-26.The Blues came out looking to improve on their first half performance but Tom Guest capitalised on a ruck to score another five points after only two minutes. ‘Quins won a lineout and drove to the line but met a strong Blues pack. However, the visitors simply spun the ruck and Guest only had to fall over the line to score. Boto lead efforts to even up the score and another fantastic run resulted in his third try in two matches.Indiscipline struck again with 25 minutes to go and Oxford’s Jones and Harlequins’ Kiba richards, who had only been on the pitch for a minute, were sent to the sin bin after the touch judge’s intervention. ‘Quins seemed to be the more comfortable team playing with 14 and Tom Williams shot through the Blues to score, converting his own try and giving the visitors a 30 point lead.Oxford needed some points to avoid humiliation and James Whittingham tried to provide them. His fantastic run was spoilt when the resulting penalty and scoring opportunity was lost due to Captain andy It is heartening to hear that Cambridge only put six points past a weaker ‘Quins last week. However, there can be no room for complacency. Steve Hill, director of rugby, described the performance as "disappointing", and so he should. any team that plans on winning must first stop conceding, and the Blues certainly have work to do in this area. If they still can’t deal with pace by next week, the game against Tonga could be an embarrassment.ARCHIVE: 4th week MT 2005

Design for Living,dir Sarah Branthwaite,8 – 12 Nnovember,OFS: Noel Coward’s Design for Living caused a scandal at its 1932 premiere, with its candid view of the incestuous relationships between three sophisticated Bohemian artists in the 1930s.Sarah Branthwaite’s exciting production has a distinctly cynical edge to it – beneath the fast-moving, witty dialogue the undercurrent of desperationin the three main characters is tangible. The sexuality of the piece is even played down to focus more intently on commenting on the subtleties of each relationship. The cast rise to Coward’s challenge admirably, and Branthwaite teases out the rhythms extremely well: you are struck by the efficacy of each pause, and each change in tone and pace has a distinct purpose. The exchanges between Gilda (Charlie Covell) and Otto (Nnicholas Bishop) are particularly impressive, both able to shift subtly between levels of emotion,without ever seeming to give any of themselves away. Covell effortlessly creates character-defining moments with a mischievous smile or wave of a cigarette, and Bishop gives a deliciously flamboyant performance. The disapproving housekeeper, played with relishby Jessica Hammett, provides some hilarious moments.The drawback, as so often with such glossy, intellectual writing, is that it does tend to distance the audience (as Branthwaite says, “the audience are invited to study the lives of these characters, almost like a sociological experiment”). The problem with this is that the audience needs to be drawn in on some level, to feel linked to these characters, for the action to hold any lasting meaning. Luckily there were flashes of this in the play, notably from Jack Farthing as Leo. The part of Leo is often overplayed to get more laughs, but Farthing’s understated, often quite awkward performance is the most human of the three. The shifting dynamic of his relationship with Otto is fascinating – the suggestion of sexual attraction between them visible but not forced, and his struggle to come to terms with such a bizarre triangle is engaging and at some points quite moving.Overall, the production tends towards underplaying and tragicomedy, which often sharpens the dark humour inherent the play. If you’re wondering if you can take another play meditating profoundly on love and relationships, this, despite its age, provides a breath of fresh air.ARCHIVE: 4th week MT 2005

This autumn the BBC is laying on a lavish feast. Aas Rradio 3 announces a four year project to dramatise seventeen of the bard’s best, BBC Ddrama launches its Shakespeareseason on television.In much the same vein as last Christmas’ adaptation of The Canterbury Tales, the TV series puts a contemporary spin on the major texts: Much Aado migrates to the less rarified atmosphere of the regional newsroom; The Taming of the Shrew is transposed into the high-powered register of Westminster politics. Such reworkings are nothing new: indeed the continued appeal of Shakespeare’s plays arises partly from their unparalleledapplicability to different social and historical settings. What the BBC’s approach indicates, however, is the modern readiness to absorb and appropriate aspects of the bard’s outputfor personal artistic ends which is so endemic: “60 second Shakespeare”, devised to complement the TV series, is marketed as “your chance to give the world your interpretation of the great man in sixty seconds”, and represents the logical extreme of the trend for “potted Shakespeare” which has spawned endless reinterpretations across the gamut of the arts.The manner in which his works have diffused through our cultural consciousness is something, one suspects, the bard himself would have approved of – the plays delight in toyingwith and breaking down generic boundaries. However, in this frenzy of reinterpretation one cannot help worrying that we risk losing sight of the essential theatricality of Shakespeare. TV and film offer myriad new perspectives, but while it is stimulating and exciting to witness such a proliferation of new readings and interpretations, we should not lose sight of the fact that the plays were conceived not just as texts but as pieces of theatre: all the world’s a stage, rather than a screen. Historically, Shakespeare stands apart from his Rrenaissance contemporariesin bridging the gap between actor and playwright with ability and agility, being the only writer of the Eelizabethan stage to be the equivalent of a fully paid-up Equity member at the same time. Consequently he puts much into the dramaturgy of his plays – though directions such as “exit pursued by a bear” may prompt a smile, such details take on immense significanceelsewhere.This is not to insist upon tedious faithfulness to text or stage direction,however. The traditional is still very much in evidence: Stratford does a roaring trade in period-costume productions, but while the prospect of Sir Ian McKellan’s Lear as part of the RSC’s forthcoming all-star cast, no-holds-barred “Shakespeare retrospective”has luvvies up and down the country licking their chops, the zany also has its place.While Stephen Ddillane’s new one-man Macbeth at the Aalmeida may have traditionalists tutting into their pre-show gin and tonics, what it does demonstrate is that there are rich and original veins of Shakespeare interpretation yet to be mined in theatre. Dillane’sdeft drawing out of the sense of “a mind diseas’d” highlights the need to see Shakespeare’s plays not simply as stories subject to multiple retellings, but as imaginative acts requiringthe participation of the audience: “Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts”, asks the prologue to Henry V, and while Ddillane’s performance represents an extreme, leaving one slightly dazed by the level of concentration it requires, this is an aspect of drama we should not neglect. It is not only his spatial sense which sets Shakespeare apart, but his acute aware of the artificiality of his medium – his plays are intensely alive to and indeed comment upon the limits of dramatic representation, and there is a danger that in the new emphasis on the naturalistic,we may neglect not only the physicality, but also the imaginative suggestiveness of the staged performance. While new media may make valuable additions to the cult of the bard, we must remain alive to the challenge of the theatrical that Shakespeare offers the modern audience.ARCHIVE: 4th week MT 2005

Masqueradedir Rrimas Tuminas25 – 29 OctoberThe Oxford PlayhouseMikhail Lermontov, the great Rrussian playwright, had a fatal penchant for duelling. Fuelled with vodka, the duels would usually take place with good cheer and plenty of friends. On a day on which he had arranged a duel – the duel that would turn out to be his last – Lermontov was caught in a huge snowstorm. Through the whirling snow he didn’t notice his approachingopponent who took aim, fired and killed him.It is this extravagant lifestyle of high-society Russia that Masquerade, performed by the Lithuanian Small State Theatre as part of Oxford’s Eevolving City Festival, evidently takes inspiration from. Set in the 1830s, a bracelet lost at a masque ball begins the Othello-like tragedy of love and jealousy. Prince Zvevditch is given the lost bracelet by a disguised woman. Aabernin suspects his beautiful young wife, Nina, to whom the bracelet belongs, of having an affair with the Prince. Consumed with jealousy, Abernin poisons his wife only to discover that the bracelet was given to the prince by the Baroness, who has all along been secretly in love with him.Reflecting this fascination with mystery and intrigue, the musical and visual ensemble has a strange illusory quality. The clouds of snow, the wistful music, the solemn female statue peering down upon the characters all combine to transform the tragedy into an eerie fairytale. Ever-growing snowballs, occasionally rolled onto the stage, provide a physical manifestationof how events are quickly spiralling out of control. The chilling visual scene points to the emotional coldness that lies beneath the surface of the characters.The director, Rimas Tuminas, brings quirky touches to the play which lift the tale out of unmitigated heartache. Tuminas depicts aristocrats turned animals when they are shown barking, yelping and being led off stage on a leash, deflating the pomp of 19th century nobility with comic ingenuity. The sense of humour is charmingly surreal: the main action is punctuated by the impromptu appearance of a giant fish and a snorkelerappearing from the water. The play revels in farcical absurdity, but avoids seeming senseless or gratuitous.The real pleasure lies in watching the energetic Vytautas Rrumsas, who plays the Prince. The object of the Baroness’ earnest affections, the so-called “dangerous seducer”, is played as a puffed-up, brazen buffoon, thrusting his groin and flouncing like a Flamenco dancer to woo the angelic Nnina. The way in which this idiotic character is placed in the middle of the disastrous deception is just another twist of the play’s bizarre humour.On the first night, the theme of disguise took on a very literal sense when the surtitles were barely legible through the fake fog and snow. Second time round, it seemed that the production hadn’t quite shed all its translation problems. Occasionally awkwardly phrased, the translation never quite lives up to the exuberance on stage. Nevertheless, Masquerade is performed well enough never to be entirely ?atthemercyofthescript.at the mercy of the script. Buoyantly directed, with an accomplished cast, the visual spectacle and vivid characters mean that the play is able to overcome the language barrier. The play’s hybrid of slightly eccentric comedy and serious tragedy is daring but carried off with charm. It is perhaps an expression of the optimism of this particular theatre group; as the first municipal theatre in Lithuania, the recognition and state subsidies they have received since 1997 have allowed them the freedom to conceive this playful production.The most admirable thing about Masquerade is that it does not take itself too seriously. It’s not too snobbish to spurn the morbidly stern for the occasional bout of frivolous comedy.For Tuminas, instilling a sense of fun into his rendering of this Rrussian classic is an essential part of the Lithuanian package deal.ARCHIVE: 4th week MT 2005

The Caucasian Chalk Circledir Lily Sykes9 – 12 NovemberThe Oxford PlayhouseThe Caucasian Chalk Circle is Bertolt Brecht’s epic tale of the struggle for sympathetic reconciliation in a world ravaged by repressive ideology and bloody warfare. The play begins deceptively with a dispute over land in a wartorn Caucasian village between the Galinsk Kolchos, who identify with the land both culturally and ideologically, and the Rrosa Luxemburg Kolchos, who fought for the survival of the valley and now wish to implement modern farming innovations. The illusion of social realism given by this prologue is soon punctuated by the arrival of Singer (Basher Savage), the enigmatic story teller. What follows is Singer’s narration, which shapes the staging of two complementary parables investigating the conflict between reason and emotion which underpins the questions of ownership on which both the stories and the prologue hang.Despite dealing with such weighty concerns, the plays-within-the-play never lose sight of their carnivalesque theatricality. The folk aesthetic of the piece allows the tales to be told through song and live music, as well as giving the actors plenty of room to play up the comic moments. The comedy also has the added function of bringing the audience into sympathy with the characters, a deliberate move which adds poignancy to the serious roles which they later undertake. Of particular note is Mayeni Smart’s impressive Oxford debut as Grusha, whose feisty bawdy of her early verbal sparring with Simon Shashava (Mischa Foster Poole) gives way to a tender humanity as she takes on the role of adoptive mother to the abandoned baby prince Michael. Aazdak also undergoes a similar transformation in the following story, mutating from acerbic goader into compassionate justice, a role which benefits from Basher Savage’s magnetic stage presence.The stories are enacted on a raised stage which creates a division betweenthe narrative space of the stories and the equally fictional outside world. This deliberate highlighting of the fictionality of the stories we see, coupled with the play’s indefinite historicalsetting (which appears to be an amalgamation of several different revolutionary episodes in the history of Tsarist Rrussia, as well as the anonymous Sovietesque committee of the prologue), invites the audience to read the play allegorically. Brecht wrote the play as an alienated émigré from Hitler’s Rreich, and the return to what Brecht termed “the sweet reason of mankind” which the play promotes is a reaction against the irrational and inhuman era of Nnational Socialism.In this ambitious production, director Lily Sykes suggests that The Caucasian Chalk Circle has a more universal appeal. The artful use of a pre-set montage in which footage of Hitler’s Germany is interspersed with images from the major wars of our own age, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, suggests that we are to perhaps draw parallels between the stories we see staged before us and conflicts in our own lifetime.This is a complex play whose staged folk narratives may serve to alienate some first time audiences who are unfamiliar with this mode of drama, while Brecht’s didactic Marxist ideologyin which the rich are portrayed as arrogant and materialistic, with sympathy invariable lying with the peasants, may seem naive to post-Communist audiences. There is also a tendency amongst some of the more minor characters to ham up the play’s comic moments which can underminethe more nuanced work of the main actors. Nnevertheless, strong central performances from Savage, Smart and Tom Lachford carry the play’s message, making for a moving and sophisticated production which is well worth seeing.ARCHIVE: 4th week MT 2005