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THE
CHALK CIRCLE2,
by Klabund
(German: Der Kreidekreis; Yiddish: Der krayd
tsirkl)
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“The
Chalk Circle” was originally a Chinese drama
written by Li Qianfu (13th-14th century).
"The Chinese language original is
known for the beauty of its lyrical
verse, and [is] considered a Yuan
masterpiece; a series of
translations and revisions inspired
several popular modern plays".1
In
1924
"The
Chalk Circle" was liberally adapted
by Klabund
(real name: Alfred Henschke), a
little-known German historical
novelist and translator of Oriental
poetry,
and subsequently translated into
Yiddish by Moshe Leib Halpern.
On 24 December 1925,
Maurice Schwartz, the prominent
Yiddish actor and director who
strove to stage Yiddish plays of the
highest caliber, ventured far
outside both Yiddish and mainstream
literature by staging this play in
New York City with his famed Yiddish
Art Theatre troupe.
Besides
Maurice Schwartz, the
cast of the play included: Izidore Casher, Miriam
Elias, Leah Rosen, Mark Schweid, Ben
Zvi Baratoff, Bella Bellarina,
Abraham Teitelbaum, Anna Teitelbaum,
Jacob Mestel, Ben Zion Katz and
Moshe Strassberg. |
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photo:
Klabund, 1928. From Das Bundesarchiv. |
According to
Maximilian Horowitz, who often wrote the
synopses during those years for the plays staged
by the Yiddish Art Theatre: “This extraordinary
play, at once realistic drama and fairy tale, is
a mordant satire on social and political
conditions with a happy, Cinderella-like ending.
Though its theme is universal, it reproduces
faithfully the life of the East with its
sordidness and picturesque quaintness, its
brutality and tenderness, its sensuous,
mysticism, its stolid resignation and heroic
endurance. There are many lyrical passages of
great beauty. The author, whose real name is
Alfred Henschke, is a German Jew who, despite
his comparative youth (he is only thirty-four),
has produced numerous poems, plays, novels and
short stories which have won for him a place in
the front rank of German writers of today.”
Horowitz further notes that there just was
published an English version of his novel, "Peter
the Great".
It is the Museum's belief that the best way to appreciate
Yiddish theatre (besides being able to
understand the Yiddish language itself and read a
Yiddish play in its original language) is to
take a foray into the past and actually read a
Yiddish play (many English translations of
Yiddish plays are also available), to appreciate the play's history, to
consider the Yiddish playwright and his writings
in depth and with a proper sensitivity, to allow oneself to ponder a
number of essential questions, e.g. why was a
particular play written? Who was the playwright
and what did they experience in their lives that
motivated them to write such a play? Had they,
for example, been incarcerated in a Russian prison
for a time (such as H. Leivick or Maxim Gorky)?
Did they serve in the Russian army, or were they
otherwise strongly affected by war, prejudice,
social inequality,
poverty or pogrom, by the Jewish condition of
the day, or by some deep ideological or
political philosophy?
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It is also important to ask how the theme
of a particular play, or any symbolism found
within it, might have relevance to
Jewish history. In “Chalk Circle”, for instance, the original
author of this play was Chinese, who lived in
the days of the Yuan Dynasty during the
13th-14th century, but in what way might it
historically or otherwise be relevant to Jewish
history? You will find a situation that might
remind you of an action said to be
taken by King Solomon in biblical
times.
Also
one may ask why did Klabund, a German writer,
decide to adapt this old Chinese tale in the early 1920s?
It seemed that he
actually suffered from tuberculosis, and during
World War I he spent time in Swiss sanitoria, and it was here that he began to
translate and adapt Far Eastern literature. He
passed away in Italy at the young age of thirty-seven in
1928. |
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photo: Scenes from N. Y. production
of "The Chalk Circle", Forverts, N.
Y., N. Y., January 1926. Courtesy of
the Museum of the City of New York. |
As a side note here, Klabund's version was
translated into English as "The Circle of
Chalk", in five acts, and was published in
London in 1929. It was put on stage in March of
that year, starring the American actress Anna
May Wong, Australian actress Rose Quong, and
British actor Laurence Olivier. The play was
further reworked in the 1940s by Bertolt Brecht,
who moved the events to medieval (Soviet)
Georgia. Subsequently in 2000, it was rewritten
and set in 1989 East Germany after the fall of
Communism. Thus it is up to you, dear museum
visitor, once you read the
full synopsis of the play to evaluate the
relevance of the play to Jewish history of the
time. Perhaps you might also imagine how the
play might have relevance to the audience member
of 1925, as performed in cities found within the
U.S.
The synopsis of this particular play has been
taken from the playbill of a production staged
at (Mike/Max) Thomashefsky’s Garden Theatre (8th
and Race Streets) in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 28-29 May,
probably in 1926 (courtesy of YIVO), though it
may be assumed that the synopsis was similar or
the same for the original New York Yiddish Art
Theatre production.
The cast of this Philadelphia production
included: Maurice Schwartz, Julius Adler, Anna
Appel, Bella Bellarina, Izidore Casher, Miriam
Elias, Lazar Freed, Ben Zion Katz, Boruch Lumet,
Jacob Mestel, Mark Schweid, Abraham Teitelbaum
and Anna Teitelbaum.
So, here is the
synopsis of Klabund's "The Chalk Circle". The
name of the actor who portrayed the particular
role is in parentheses):
SYNOPSIS
ACT ONE
Tschang, a man of
learning and refinement despite his humble trade
of gardener, has had all his possessions taken
away from him by the greedy and ruthless tax
collector Ma (Julius Adler). He resorts to the
peculiarly Chinese method of revenge by
committing suicide in front of Ma's house,
thereby charging him before the world with
responsibility for his death. Tschang is
survived by his wife (Miriam Elias), by his
daughter Haitang (Bella Bellarina), a beautiful,
accomplished and angelic girl of sixteen, and by
his son Tschang-Ling (Mark Schweid), a spirited
but easy-going student. Thus left penniless, the
widow is forced to sell her daughter to Tong (Izidor
Casher), the keeper of a tea house which is also
a brothel. Haitang resigns herself to this life
of degradation, but Tschang Ling protests. He
becomes reconciled when part of the money Tong
pays for his sister is turned over to him.
Haitang enters one of the cages in which Tong
keeps his girls. Presently she is visited by Pao
(Lazar Freed), a young prince of the blood. The
prince is fascinated by her beauty, wit and
soulfulness, and she too falls in love with him.
But their romance is nipped in the bud when Ma
enters and offers to buy Haitang of [sic] Tong.
Pao tries to outbid him, but has to withdraw
when Ma offers a thousand taels for the girl.
And so Haitang is forced to part with her
"Prince Charming" and is carried off by the man
who drove her father to his death.
ACT TWO
One year later,
Haitang has presented the doting Ma with a
child, which makes her all the more hateful to
the jealous Yu-Pei. Ma's childless first wife
(Anna Appel) ("wife of the first order," as she
haughtily styles herself). Her paramour Tschao
(Abraham Teitelbaum),
the Clerk of Court, arrives in response to a
summons of Ma. The lovers meet secretly in the
garden, and Tschao intimates that since he
cannot gratify his love for her, he may put and
end to his life with some poison he had on him,
then questions him regarding the law of
inheritance. He tells her that when a man dies,
his estate goes to his "wife of the first order"
second wife if the latter has borne him a child.
Yu-Pei hints that she has a plan for preventing
Haitang from inheriting Ma's fortune. She then
goes to announce Tschao to her husband. Ma comes
into the garden, and when the two men are left
alone, he informs Tschao that he has sent for
him because he wants him to assist him, Ma, in
getting a divorce from Yu-Pei, for which he will
pay him handsomely. Tschao promises his aid and
Ma returns to the house. Tschao at once informs
Yu-Pei of Ma's intention to divorce her, and she
resolves to carry out this very day the plan she
previously hinted of Ma's garden. Haitang enters
into a conversation with him, and the two soon
recognize each other. He informs her he has been
assigned by a secret society he belongs to kill
Ma, and that this is why he has come. She
defends Ma and pleas with her brother to spare
him. As Ling is determined, she decides to
consult the White Circle. With a piece of chalk
she draws a white circle on the ground, then
taking the knife with which Ling intended to
kill her husband, she throws it, with the
understanding that if it hits inside the circle,
Ma is to be killed, otherwise he is to be
spared. The blade hits exactly the line of the
circumference, and she prevails upon her brother
to go back to the leaders of the society and ask
them to interpret this omen before carrying out
the sentence on Ma. Before her brother leaves,
she gives him her fur coat. He departs, and
Yu-Pei, who was spying on the two, accuses
Haitang of infidelity to Ma. The latter
questions Haitang. She tells him the stranger
was her brother, and Ma believes her because, as
he says, he loves her. Tea is then served in the
garden, and when they notice that sugar is
missing, Yu-Pei offers to fetch it. She returns,
but instead of sugar, she comes back with poison
which she puts into Ma's tea. He unsuspectingly
drinks it and soon drops dead. Yu-Pei at once
begins to scream murder, and when police arrive
accuses Haitang of having poisoned her husband.
Haitang meekly submits to arrest, asking only
that she be permitted to take her baby with her;
but Yu-Pei brazenly asserts that the child is
hers, and not Haitang's.
ACT THREE
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Tschu-Tschu, the chief justice of
the court where Haitang is to be
tried that day for murder, is having
his breakfast, for as he observes,
when he is full he can sentence a
starving thief to be hanged with a
light heart. Tschao appears and
presents him with a bag of money,
the gift of Yu-Pei, the plaintiff in
the case to be tried today.
This
convinces His Honor that Yu-Pei is
an honorable woman. He retires to
his chambers. Yu-Pei enters
accompanied by the midwife who
delivered Haitang of her child. She
bribers her to say that Yu-Pei is
the child's real mother. She bribes
and coaches two other witnesses.
Court commences and witnesses
testify as they have been paid to.
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photo:
Maurice Schwartz as Tschu-Tschu, the
Chief Justice.
From the playbill of
the N. Y. production. Courtesy of
YIVO. |
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The question of
the child's maternity thus settled, the Court
proceeds to take up the matter of the crime
itself. Tschao testifies that Haitang's father
committed suicide in front of Ma's house after
the latter has seized his belongings in payment
of overdue taxes, a fact which establishes a
motive for the murder on Haitang's part.
Finally Yu-Pei
swears with studied ambiguity that the murder
was committed by the woman who is not the
child's mother. Haitang cries out in anguish
that Yu-Pei swore truly. This is taken as a
confession of guilt on her part, and the Court
sentences her to be beheaded. At this moment a
courier rushes in and hands the Chief Justice a
message. The Justice reads it with trembling,
for the message states that the old Emperor is
dead and has been succeeded by Prince Pao, and
that the new Emperor has ordered all executions
to be stayed and all judges and persons
condemned to die be brought to Peking so that
the Emperor may find out for himself whether
justice is being done throughout the land.
Tschu-Tschu's dismay is quite evident, whereupon
Tschang-Ling, who has been sitting among the
spectators, cries out to the judge: "What are
you afraid of, old fool? The new Emperor is no
better than the old. In his reign, too, the poor
will starve and drop dead in the streets."
Tschu-Tschu orders Ling to be held on a charge
of treason and to be taken to the Emperor, who
he hopes to please greatly with this arrest.
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Scene
from "The Chalk Circle". Courtesy of
the New York Public Library Digital
Gallery Collection. |
ACT FOUR
Scene 1 --
Haitang is marching on foot to
Peking in a snowstorm. She is guarded by two
soldiers. Presently they are overtaken by two
other soldiers leading her brother. The soldiers
decide to tie the two prisoners together so that
it may be easier to guard them. As they trudge
along, they are overtaken by three rickshaws,
the first containing Tschu-Tschu, the second
Tschao, and the third Yu-Pei (now married to
Tschao) and Haitang's baby.
Scene 2 --
From the conversation with the
young Emperor with poet, we learn that he is
still lovesick for the wonderful girl he once
saw for a brief moment at Tong's tea house.
Presently he goes to the Throne Room, where all
the judges and condemned criminals of the whole
country are assembled. He questions Tschang-Ling,
admires his courage and soon sets him free. He
then has Haitang brought before him. The two
recognize each other. By an ingenious stratagem
of King Solomon, he establishes that Haitang is
the the mother of the child, and from this it is
an easy matter for him to establish also her
innocence and Yu-Pei's guilt of the murder of
Ma. Yu-Pei confesses and implicates Tschao, who
in turn appoints Tschao and Tschu-Tschu; she
also forgives Yu-Pei for having tried to rob her
of her child, but punishes her for having
poisoned her husband by ordering her to go home
and partake of the same poison. Thereupon all
depart save Haitang. The Emperor requests her to
tell him what happened to her the night Ma
carried her off to his house. She relates that
Ma placed her in a room whose door opened upon a
garden. She pleaded with him, and he let her
alone that night, and because it was so hot she
slept with the door open. When she fell asleep
she had a wonderful dream. She dreamt that a
handsome young man stole into the room from the
garden, came over to her couch, lay down by her
side and embraced her as a man embraces his
bride. The Emperor is surprised that she should
remember a dream so vividly, and Haitang answers
that this was because he was the man she saw
that night in her dream. Thereupon he tells her
that it was no dream, but an actual occurrence,
for he followed her that night and stole into
the room where she was sleeping, and overpowered
by her charms yielded to his passion. He begs
her to forgive him, and she agrees to do so
provided he will acknowledge her child as his
own. He replies that this very day he will
proclaim her his wife before all the people.
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