A Review of Bertolt Brecht’s 'Mother Courage and Her Children'

Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and her Children is arguably one of, if not the, most famous of his many plays. The original portrays the struggles of Mother Courage as she follows around soldiers with her battered cart, set during the Thirty-Year War of the seventeenth century Europe, and how she intends to earn her living off this chaos regardless of the consequences. Jordan’s modernised adaption of this renowned play, performed at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, however, is set in the dystopian future of 2080. In this rendition, the war takes part between the Blue and Red armies, and Mother Courage follows the soldiers through what was once Europe with her battered ice cream cart and three children. Having seen the Saturday night performance from the second tiered seating, I think it would be appropriate to hail this play a success, although perhaps missed its mark as a political stance as opposed to a play with the overall message of reaping what we sow.

What initially drew me in to this successful re-imagining of Brecht’s classic was the stage design, or lack thereof. Of course, knowledge of Brechtian theatre tells us why this has been done, but the use of a 360o stage really highlighted an omnipresent presence on the actors, and how they had more room to actually engage with the audience. The space on stage meant that the audience were more successfully able to participate in what was being said rather than becoming distracted with how the actors became their characters. For example, Julie Hesmondhalgh was a truly amazing Mother Courage, yet her colourful language and inappropriate jokes certainly meant that the audience were kept more in the reality of what they were watching than getting swept away with the play. As a chronicle play, one subtle touch that certainly did not go unnoticed was the eleven scene names seemingly hastily scribbled in black paint on cardboard cut-outs hanging overhead around the stage. The apocalyptic, desperate style kept with the original, and for each new scene these overhead titles dropped down as an extra prompt to the audience as to what was going to happen. These subtle set designs by Joanna Scotcher really did bring the play into a more imaginative place, and while this is certainly a positive for set designers, it did feasibly miss what Brecht was after with this play.

There have been dozens of staging’s and adaptions of Mother Courage, and in each it is always evident that capitalism is the downfall of humanity. Chillingly, when Mother Courage realises that all three of her children are dead, she doesn’t even particularly mourn – her final words are ‘business as usual’ in this adaption, as she saddles up to her ice cream truck and struggles to pull it off stage, lit by a single flame in a metal drum. It really does seem to hit home how blind Mother Courage seems throughout this play, driven by greed and making a living off misery, yet it is this final scene, followed by a slow song of children singing ‘saddle up and carry on’, that we truly realise she is honestly lost in the world of capitalism and consumerism. The stark lack of light other than the small flame also seems symbolic of just how empty her life has become – from three children, the chaplain and the chef, to no one and essentially nothing. It seems almost like Jordan wants us to take heed of being careful what we wish for, as only a few scenes prior to this pitiful end, Mother Courage had a jaunty rock song about her power and success from the war.

As the play progresses, it seems more and more characters become aware of the selfish interests of Mother Courage. In one of the final few scenes, when it’s announced peace might be within reach, the chaplain calls Mother Courage a ‘whore for war’ due to her obvious opposition to the possibility of war coming to an end. This could perhaps be a reflection on how she had developed a false consciousness in this dystopian reality, hiding behind the material items she sells to soldiers, even when she is told that they have no more money to be doing so. Even the chef leaves her and Kattrin for his mother’s kitchen, as although Mother Courage says she is staying with Kattrin for austerity, it honestly feels like she just cannot part with her truck. She vehemently believes she can make her way from war, and this really is her downfall. The meta commentary of the actors opening each scene also provided the alienation effect, or ‘verfremdungseffect’, as having them suddenly break role and talk to the audience meant that we never really had the opportunity to truly attach ourselves to the characters as real people, but as to what they represented. Jordan having kept this play as epic theatre removed any dramatic tension that might have previously been going on, for example Mother Courage arguing with the soldiers, therefore meaning that our attention remained on how the play and messages were constructed.

The revision to a current time does not feel particularly conflicting with the original text, but it is definitely worth noting that the same cannot be said for the script. While the actors delivered their parts pretty much flawlessly, the script itself felt forced and almost bordered on too comedic in parts; while Brecht was obviously known for his use of distance acting, this particular script honestly contained too much excessive discussion within the scenes. The close attention to detail and the high-quality dystopian set was enough to make the audience understand where they are and the themes discussed, viz. the division of factions and how war feeds those only at the top of society. It therefore felt unnecessary to have a script that constantly abused the audience with this constant metaphor. Furthermore, the jokes seemed to be handled in a ‘too relatable’ way, as if Jordan was writing them for an audience she didn’t quite get. Perhaps a harsh stance, but it personally felt like there were one too many double entendre’s; the play would have felt smoother without one in almost every scene.

The musical director Jim Fortune also outdid himself. As the audience filtered in, there was almost jaunty violin music, like something you might hear in a medieval setting – yet as the minutes progressed, the bass started, making it feel a tad more ominous and modern. Throughout the play much of the music was played by one man fantastically, and honestly this felt like one of the most successful parts of the play. The fact that Brecht was known to keep things actively engaged rather than passively consumed meant this all worked incredibly well; in the first scene it did feel almost pantomime like, yet Jordan pulled it back with a range of songs that really highlighted the issues within the post-apocalyptic society.

Overall, this play really was a solid and interesting take on a modern society ravaged by war, yet what it misses is the more political messages it could have been giving off about the dangers of capitalism. Whilst it steers clear of any naturalistic elements, it does not seem to particularly highlight or critique the major institutions other than Mother Courage’s inability to turn her head on business. This is no doubt still an emotional play, but ultimately that was the most one could take from it – more emotion than lesson.