Mother Courage and Her Children (Methuen Drama)
by Bertolt Brecht
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Book Summary Information
Author: Bertolt BrechtTranslator: John Willett
Translator: Michael Hofmann
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-09-01
ISBN: 0713684666
Number of pages: 128
Publisher: Methuen Drama
Book Reviews of Mother Courage and Her Children (Methuen Drama)
Book Review: You'll feel like you've been pulling Mother Courage's cart for 3 hours!
Summary: 1 Stars
Directors and Producers of the world, do not do this to your audiences! This play is 3 hours of pure torture, and for what? There is no truth or beauty here. The basic message is that Mother Courage has a love/hate relationship with the war, but ultimately decides she has to make a living even though it costs the lives of all her children. Gives new meaning to the term "cold, hard capitalism", which I guess is what the playwright is railing against, although not very effectively. I say that because watching this play gave me a sense of what it would be like to live under Communism. The ugliness portrayed here made me feel cold and depressed, like there was nothing good in the world. (Harry Potter fans will understand what I mean when I say I felt like I'd had an encounter with a dementor after watching this play.) If the communist playwright was trying to win converts to Marxism, he failed so far as I am concerned. The message is not only anti-capitalism, it is anti-faith, and makes soldiers out to be depraved and animalistic.
So, if you can't tell. I hated it, and I hope that I can persuade anyone thinking about spending hours of creative energy producing, performing or attending this play not to bother. Do society a favor and spend your effort on something that will inspire positive social change. While it has some interesting moments, it goes on way longer than is necessary to make the author's point, which has very little validity anyway. Perhaps the only valid point is that the "powers that be" start wars for many reasons (often religous or economic), and innocent and unaware citizens have to live with the consequences that usually far outlast the conflict.
Summary of Mother Courage and Her Children (Methuen Drama)
Mother Courage and Her Children is widely regarded as Brecht's best work, a theatrical landmark and one of the most powerful anti-war plays in history. This translation by Michael Hofmann was published to coincide with the UK tour by English Touring Theatre in 2006.
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.
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