In 1968, Simon Williams was a young man just setting out on his career in academia. He had taken leave of his native Britain and was teaching at a university in Iran. Among his projects: a production of Bertolt Brecht’s 1944 masterpiece The Caucasian Chalk Circle.
Alas, a strike by students — remember, this was the late ‘60s — closed down the university. Williams and his fellow Westerners were sent home, and the show never opened.
For nearly 50 years, Williams has desired to direct the play again, this time seeing it through to the finish. On Friday night — one month before he retires after 33 years with the UCSB Department of Theater and Dance — he will finally do so. “Since this is probably going to be my last production at the university, I thought, what better play to end with?” he asked. “That’s my personal reason for doing it.” And his larger reason? “It’s even more relevant today than it was in 1968.”