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Review
'Brecht's tragedy of war is brought up to date with a bang' : 'Tony Kushner's sparky new translation' Michael Billington, The Guardian, 27.09.09 'Tony Kushner's wry, witty translation' : 'Epic theatre in every sense of the term' Fiona Mountford, Evening Standard, 28.09.09
Product Description
This Student Edition of Brecht's anti-war masterpiece features an extensive introduction and commentary that includes a plot summary, discussion of the context, themes, characters, style and language as well as questions for further study and notes on words and phrases in the text. It is the perfect edition for students of theatre and literature.In this chronicle of the Thirty Years War of the seventeenth century, Mother Courage follows the armies back and forth across Europe, selling provisions and liquor from her canteen wagon. As the action of the play progresses between the years 1624 and 1646 she loses her children to the war but remains indomitable, refusing to part with her livelihood - the wagon. The play is one of the most celebrated examples of Epic Theatre and of Brecht's use of alienation effect to focus attention on the issues of the play above the individual characters. It remains regarded as one of the greatest plays of the twentieth century and one of the great anti-war plays of all time. The Berlin production of 1949, with Helene Weigel as Mother Courage, marked the foundation of the Berliner Ensemble. This volume contains expert notes on the author's life and work, historical and political background to the play, photographs from stage productions and a glossary of difficult words and phrases. The play is translated by Brecht scholar John Willett who did more than anyone else to make Brecht's work available in the English language.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Brecht's play Mother Courage and Her Children brings together the themes of war, sucess and motherhood, and how the sucess of her business during war time brings about the downfall of her family. Fighting to trade to all sides and become successful, Mother Courage sees almost all of her children lost to war, yet never breaks down emotionally and continues on with life, thriving on the needs of the war. A good business woman but is she a good mother? Brecht explores the will to survive and the fear of defeat, encompassed in a very strong woman and her need to survive. Tragic yet comic; must for all drama and theatre students studying Brecht.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
16 reviews
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Go ahead and feel
16 May 2001
Format:Paperback
Saying that Brecht didn't want his plays to evoke an emotional response is an extreme oversimplification of his theories. He just didn't want the emotional response to overwhelm the intellectual response and remove the audience's capacity to judge the work objectively. In this play, we have a heroine who is not a heroine. We understand her, but we never empathize with her. Consequently, the interdependence of war and economy is illuminated without making the reader wallow in excessive emotion. Yes, we do feel strongly when Kattrin is beathing her drum, but that feeling is not what the audience leaves with at the end of the play.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Response to Noah Lambert's review
11 May 2001
Format:Paperback
Brecht doesn't want emotion because that is Brechtian theater. He thought that in order for a play to invoke social change, it needed to be clear to the audience, that the audience needed to learn something. Emotions, Brecht felt, clog the mind and only feed the brain sentiment, not rational thought. Mother Courage and Her Children is, quite obviously, an anti-war play. Brecht wants you to see that war makes criminals out of everyone, even mothers. He wants you to love Mother Courage while you hate her so that the emotion is cancelled out and you are only left with the thoughts of her actions and why they were wrong. If you want a play to read or perform that is challenging, amazing, and intellectual all at once, this is the way to go. I performed this and I was forever changed.
15 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Mother Courage WILL INSPIRE YOU!!!
4 Mar 1999
Format:Paperback
I had to read this for my English/Theater class, and I found it to be extremely compelling and profound. Our teacher told us that Brecht doesn't want to evoke an emotional response, but even so, I was strongly moved by the events that transpire, and Kattrin's ultimate sacrifice. I also had to compare David Hare's version with the translations of Manheim and Bentley, and I found that Hare's was the sharpest because of the way he distills the dialogue down to its core. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in theater, literature, or life.
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