Book cover for Mother Courage and Her Children by Bertolt Brecht

Mother Courage and Her Children

2015 Released
112 Pages
1-2 Hours
Audiobook Unavailable
Hardback Unavailable
Methuen DramaISBN 9781408177938
Translated by David Hare
This version of Brecht's great anti-war play by playwright David Hare was premiered by the National Theatre, London, in November 1995. It adopts a freer approach to the text than many editions, adapting the original rather than offering a close translation. In this chronicle of the Thirty Years War, Mother Courage follows
the armies back and forth across Europe, selling provisions and liquor
from her canteen wagon. One by one she loses her children to the war
but will not part with her livelihood - the wagon. The Berlin
production of 1949, with Helene Weigel as Mother Courage, marked the
foundation of the Berliner Ensemble.

Considered by many to
be one of the greatest anti-war plays ever written and Brecht's
masterpiece, it remains a powerful example of Brecht's Epic Theatre and pioneering theatrical style.

Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) was a German poet, playwright, and theater director. An influential theater practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the Berliner Ensemble-the post-war theater company operated by Brecht and his wife and long-time collaborator, the actress Helene Weigel-with its internationally acclaimed productions.

More by Bertolt Brecht

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