What follows is a straightforward yet sensitive rendering of "The Caucasian Chalk Circle" that is enacted with lively simplicity by a seven-person cast.

WSJ: Brecht After the Idol-Smashing | Caucasian Chalk Circle | Classic Stage Company | The Misanthrope | Court Theatre | By Terry Teachout

"The Caucasian Chalk Circle" was conceived as a play with music, and Duncan Sheik, the singer-songwriter who composed the score for "Spring Awakening, " has written new settings of W.H.

WSJ: Brecht After the Idol-Smashing | Caucasian Chalk Circle | Classic Stage Company | The Misanthrope | Court Theatre | By Terry Teachout

German dramatist Bertolt Brecht harpooned the arrogance of the privileged class ("well-born stinkers") in "The Caucasian Chalk Circle, " his 1944 absurdist tale of exile, social inequality and misguided justice.

WSJ: Review: 'Caucasian Chalk Circle' jabs at injustice