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Mother Courage and Her Children

PLAY / OVERVIEW

Mother Courage and Her Children (Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder.)

A chronicle play of the Thirty Years’ War.

Set in Sweden, Poland and Germany between 1624 and 1636

PLAY / SYNOPSIS

Mother Courage, who owns a traveling canteen wagon and makes her living from the troops, loses her two sons to the Protestant army. The Catholics overrun her, and she changes sides, but they catch and kill one son. The other is shot by the Protestants for looting during a temporary armistice. her dumb daughter Kattrin loses her life giving warning of a surprise Catholic attack. Throughout these tragedies (which she feels deeply) Courage’s main concern is to keep her business going: against the background of great historical events she expounds her materialist, matter-of-fact view of war. At the end she is left alone with her wagon, old and wretched but still determined to get her cut.

Willett, John. The Theatre of Bertolt Brecht: a Study from Eight Aspects. Methuen Drama, 1991.

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“MOTHER COURAGE” (Brecht): Zoe Wanamaker (Kattrin), Bruce Alexander (Swiss Cheese), Judi Dench (Mother Courage), Stephen Moore (Chaplain),Royal Shakespeare Company/Barbican Theatre, London1984

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PRODUCTION HISTORY

Written in 1938-9 in a rage against Hitler and Nazism

First produced in Zurich Schauspielhaus. Zurich, Switzerland. 19 April 1941.

Original scenic design by Teo Otto

The role of Kattrin specially created for his wife Helen Weigel, whom ended up playing the title role in the 1949 Berlin production.

NOTABLE PRODUCTIONS

Premiere: 19 April 1941. Zurich Schauspielhaus. Zurich, Switzerland.

Producer Leopold Lindtberg, scenery Teo Otto, Therese Giehse (Mother Courage)

American Premiere: 17 January 1956. Actor’s Workshop, Marines’ Memorial Theatre. San Francisco, California. Director Herbert Blau. Beatrice Manley (Mother Courage)

Modern: 16 September 2009. National Theatre London. Tony Kushner Translation.

Director Deborah Warner. Design Tom Pye. Fiona Shaw (Mother Courage)

AUDIENCE RESPONSE

Premiere: Audiences related to Mother Courage and mourned her and her sufferings.

American Premiere: “There have been many plays that are sharper weapons against war.” (San Fransisco Chronicle)

Modern: “Even if Warner's production occasionally throws the baby out with the bathwater, it presents the play as a piece of living theatre.” (The Guardian)

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1938

1938    February 4. Hitler seized control of German army and put Nazis in key posts.

1938    Feb 20. Hitler demanded self-determination for germans in Austria and Czechoslovakia

1938    Mar 12, Germany invaded Austria and expelled all Jews and other political opponents from the universities.

1938    Mar 26, Herman Goering warned all Jews to leave Austria.

1938    Apr 5, Anti-Jewish riots broke out in Dabrowa, Poland.

1938    Apr 26, Austrian Jews required to register property above 5,000 Reichsmarks.

1938    May 26, House Committee on Un-American Activities began its work of searching for subversives in the United States.

1938    Jun 3, The German Reich voted to confiscate so-called "degenerate art."

1938    Jul 22, The Third Reich issued special identity cards for Jewish Germans.

1938    Sep 29, British, French, German and Italian leaders signed the Munich Agreement.

1938    Dec 29, Time Magazine named Adolf Hitler as “Man of the Year.”

Ratnikas, Algis. “Timeline 1938.” Online Directory of Historical Timelines, Timelines of History, www.timelines.ws/20thcent/1938.HTML.

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(Weideli, Walter. The Art of Bertolt Brecht. Merlin P, 1964. p 64.)

BERTOLT BRECHT / BIOGRAPHY

1898 February 10. Born in Ausberg.

1914 August 17. Brecht’s first contribution to a newspaper, Augsberger Neueste Nachrichten.

1918 Called up for military service as a medical orderly.

1918 Writes his first play, Baal.

1933 February 28. Leaves Germany

1933 Spring. Vienna, Switzerland, France.

1933 Settles in Denmark.

1940 April 19. First night of Mother Courage at Zurich.

July 21. Arrives San Pedro, California.

1947 October 30. Brecht before the Un-American Activities Committee, Washington.

1947 November. Returns to Europe.

1949 Autumn. Foundation of the Berliner Ensemble. Brecht settles in East Berlin

1955 May 26. Receives Stalin Peace Prize in Moscow.

1956 August 14. Dies of coronary thrombosis.

(Esslin, Martin. Brecht: the Man and His Work. Anchor Books, 1961.)

BERTOLT BRECHT / NOTABLE PLAYS

1923 Baal

1928 The Threepenny Opera

1935 St. Joan of the Stockyards

1932 Mother

1941 Mother Courage and Her Children

1941 The Resistible Ascent of Arturo Ui

1943 Galileo

1943 The Good Woman of Setzuan

1954 The Caucasian Chalk Circle

(Willett, John. The Theatre of Bertolt Brecht: a Study from Eight Aspects. Methuen Drama, 1991.)

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MOTHER COURAGE / CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Name: Anna Fierling

Occupation: Traveling salesman

Internal Conflict: Losing her money to war

External Conflict: Losing her children to war

A brash business woman, Mother Courage travels around profiting off of the war by selling provisions to soldiers. Though she survives the war, she is forced to endure it alone and without change.

Quote: “I must get back into business” (Scene 12).

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Berliner Ensemble. 1949

Featuring Helene Weigel as Mother Courage

Directed by Bertolt Brecht

Scenery by Teo Otto

I think this is one of the most chilling moments in Modern Drama.

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KATTRIN/CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Name: Kattrin Haupt

Fatal Trait: Compassionate

The youngest daughter of Mother Courage, Kattrin is dumb (cannot speak) and often is passed over. Killed for beating a drum to warn of surprise Catholic attack.

Quote: “Still crying, KATTRIN is drumming as hard as she can.“  (Scene 11)

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Featuring Angelika Hurwicz as Kattrin

Directed by Bertolt Brecht

Scenery by Teo Otto

Another moment of remarkably arresting theatre, brought to you by the Berliner Ensemble, 1949.

Mother Courage and her Children, Bertolt Brecht Courage’s mute daughter Kattrin strikes a drum on a roof, to wake a sleeping village and warn them of a coming army takeover. The voiceless girl is shot by soldiers, but has woken the children of the village.

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EILIF / CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Name: Eilif Noyocki

Occupation: Soldier

Fatal Trait: Brave

A strong and brave man who is the eldest son of Mother Courage. Though he is praised for his actions in war, he is killed for the same actions in amnesty.

Quote: “Takes more than a war to scare me” (Scene 1).

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American Repertory Theatre (A.R.T.) (2001)

Featuring Jonathan Roberts as Eilif and Karen MacDonald as Mother Courage

Directed by Janos Szasz Set design by Csaba Antal Costume design by Edit Szucs Lighting design by John Ambrosone Sound design by David Remedios

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SWISS CHEESE/CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Name: Feyos

Occupation: Regimental Paymaster

Fatal Trait: Honest

Honest, but simple, man who is the middle son of Mother Courage. Killed by enemy forces for not disclosing the location of, and then losing, the regimental cash box.

Quote: “No pay, no flight. They can refuse to budge.” (Scene 3)

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Swiss Cheese and Soldiers

Victorian College of the Arts (VCA)

Darcy Whitsed as Swiss Cheese.

Photo Credit Geoff Busby

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THE PRIEST/CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Occupation: Former Priest

A Catholic priest persecuted in the war and travels with Mother Courage for many years in hiding.

Quote: “War is like love, it always finds a way. Why should it end?” (Scene 6).

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“Courage, The Priest and Kattrin face numerous difficulties”.

Shakespeare and Company 2013

Featuring Olympia Dukakis as Courage and Apollo Dukakis as the Priest 

Directed by Tony Simotes

Costume Design by Arthur Oliver