Der Kreidekreis

A chalk circle, with a child in the centre. A woman claiming to be the mother is pulling on each of the child’s arms. “The true mother will possess the true strength,” says Prince Pao – it will be the one who lets go of her child so as not to tear it apart. By the time Haitang can hold her child in her arms again, she has endured an odyssey of injustice. Abandoned, sold, abused, slandered and convicted of murder, justice finds an unexpectedly powerful advocate here.

In 1925, Klabund’s play “Der Kreidekreis” premiered, based on a 14th-century Chinese singspiel in which a person is mercilessly subjected to the whims of power. In 1933, Alexander Zemlinsky’s opera premiered in Zurich, after he had been forced to flee Berlin due to his Jewish heritage. “Der Kreidekreis” is a fascinating blend of fairy tale, social drama and caricature. The music shimmers between late Romanticism à la Strauss and Mahler and entices with jazz sounds, Far Eastern gong beats and cabaret scenes recalling Kurt Weill.