Shudrka Hyderabad presents Oka Anokha Roopkatha Chalk Circle, a multilingual adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle.

 

The production began in response to the farmers’ protests that shook India in 2021 and uses Brecht’s parable to reflect on questions of land, ownership, justice and the relationship between law and morality. Brecht’s play itself draws from Klabund’s The Circle of Chalk, which was based on an ancient Chinese story. Brecht relocated the tale to Soviet Georgia towards the end of the Second World War and transformed it into a parable about competing claims to land, power and justice.

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In Shudrka Hyderabad’s adaptation, the story speaks directly to a contemporary India where the question of who owns the land—and who has the right to decide its future—remains deeply contested.

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At the centre of the play is the Chalk Circle, a seemingly simple test that asks: who is the true mother—the one who claims ownership, or the one who is willing to let go for the sake of the child? Through this conflict, the play questions the difference between what is legal and what is right, between property and responsibility, and between established law and a more humane understanding of justice. The production moves between the world of the fairy tale and the realities of contemporary political life. It brings together multiple languages, music, physical theatre and storytelling to create a theatrical landscape in which the absurd, the comic and the political coexist.

 

The famous court scene becomes the heart of this interrogation. A judge who refuses to simply follow the established rules creates the possibility of another kind of justice—one based not merely on possession or legality, but on use, care and social responsibility. Oka Anokha Roopkatha: Chalk Circle is therefore not simply a retelling of Brecht. It asks what happens when an old story about a child, a circle and a judgement is placed against the questions that continue to confront us today:

Who owns the land? Who has the right to it? What makes a law just? And can theatre help us imagine a different order?

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Direction: Swapan Mondal

Cast: Souravi Ray, Swapan Mondal, Reshma Begum, Surya Dev Chandra, ​Aditya Singh, Ananth Vikram, Sanchoyita Kar, Meena Sola, Sourabh Singh, Rahul Max, Dharmendar Sai, Pranay Bhardwaj, Nageshwar Naidu Pamidipati

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Oka Anokha Roopkatha Chalk Circle has been performed at several theatre and cultural spaces in India,

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24 December 2022 — 19th Rangapeeth Natya Mela, National Theatre Festival, Santipur, West Bengal

21 December 2022 — National Theatre Festival, Behrampore Rabindra Sadan, Chuanpore Suhrid, West Bengal

14 December 2022 — Abhinaya National Theatre Festival, Department of Language and Culture,
Government of Telangana

28 August 2022 — Lamakaan, Hyderabad

19 February 2022 — Lamakaan, Hyderabad

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The production has toured nationally and been presented at several national theatre festivals, including:​

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