Mother Courage and Her Children | National Theatre

'Brecht's tragedy of war is brought up to date with a bang.' Guardian

Fiona Shaw takes the title role in Tony Kushner's inventive and vigorous translation of Bertolt Brecht's uncompromising masterpiece.

New live music by Duke Special and his band infuses this wildfire production from director Deborah Warner.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Fiona Shaw
• Bertolt Brecht
• Mother Courage
• National Theatre
• London
• Theatre
• Duke Special
• Performing Arts

[George5210]

Not meaning to sound like a total snob here, but the theatre of Bertolt Brecht was designed not to have an emotional impact so that the audience would think more about the situations and how the characters ended up there rather than individual troubles, it was theatre that linked with his Marxist views and he wanted the audience to be active and feel they could make a change to society! So it's good that it didn't make emotional impact!

[StarlightMelody]

One of the most surprising theatrical experiences I had ! Very creative direction, powerful visual and light effects and wonderful music by Duke Special. His voice haunts your mind long after you watched the play. After the performance, Duke Special and his musicians offered us a gig at the foyer of the National Theatre. Fiona Shaw was there too. Incredible energy after a three-hour play !!

Irish are pure energy ! :D

[SuperLimeDude]

@mariamzad oh I also wanna know how can I see a version of brecht's play Mutter Courage online and I can't find it anywhere! Have you managed to do this? plase help me too then :)

[mariamzad]

how can i watch this version online ??

[jmrich18]

@George5210 Brecth is not completely void of emotional impact. His characters were created so as not to be sympathized with by the audience, true, but the plays in general definitely insight an emotional impact, otherwise the audience would never be moved to change. Mother Courage makes my blood boil. Not so much riled up over the events in play so much as situation presented through the play, but still quite riled.

[GreatGrumbledook]

"Lucius: believe me, Caesar is no Caesarian. Were Rome a true republic, then were Caesar the first of Republicans."

[GreatGrumbledook]

@morwenmur: I never understood all this fuss about Monsieur Mussolini! Unified Italy is a mere operetta state, when kind Monsieur Adolf Hitler came to power in warlike Germany he easily laid most of the civilized world in ruins and might have prevailed against the USA and the Soviet Union, if he had left the war affairs to his very capable field commanders; while Monsieur Mussolini was defeated by the Greeks and even the English; and of course I will answer this remark with a quote:

[morwenmur]

@GreatGrumbledook Oh, well done! You have successfully managed to quote Monty Python! I'm kinda tired of this now so you just go ahead and think up some more witty replies to this. i've tried being polite and that obviously isn't working so i just cant be bothered with you anymore. Say whatever you want, but to be perfectly honest, you probably aren't making many friends with your comments. If you want to be a fascist, fine.

[GreatGrumbledook]

"Moyses, wishing to secure for the future his authority over the nation, gave them a novel form of worship, opposed to all that is practised by other men. Things sacred with us, with them have no sanctity, while they allow what with us is forbidden."

[GreatGrumbledook]

@morwenmur: Neither, little coxcomb; apart from being French you can use the words Aristotelian, Machiavellian, Republican (in the Roman sense), Democrat (in the Greek sense) when it comes to politics; and believe me: Though I favour greatly the republic for the sake of ancient Rome I am no principal foe to the monarchy; but there is no remedy in being Jewish in this case: As I will always did with the great detractors of the Jews, the Romans and the Germans; and invoke Tacitus: