The Caucasian Chalk Circle

The costume was designed for an adaptation of The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht, for the character of Grusha. My Grusha is informed by my memory of “the girl in the blue bra,” a nameless female protester who was beaten and stripped by police in 2011 in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Under her black abaya, she was wearing a blue bra.

My approach to designing this character is autoethnographic, based on my own emotions and memories. The movement of the costume, its textiles and textures are based on feelings of burden, frustration and confronting the judgement of others that I experienced when I saw the footage. I had been present in the same place, and it could have been me.

The shape of the dress is drawn from traditional Egyptian clothing. The excessive sleeves help Grusha transform from being oppressed into Isis, the mother goddess of Ancient Egypt. Blue forms the outer layer as a reminder of the “blue bra” incident, while the inner layer represents her own flesh. The contrast and transformation between these two colours express the struggle of each Grusha trying to claim her space in the world.