Mother Courage And Her Children

MOTHER Courage And Her Children is arguably Brecht’s greatest play. Depicting an allegorical and cynical anti-war attitude within the backdrop of the 30 Years’ War of 1618 – 1648, it is as poignant today as ever. In this production the futility and yet the inevitability of war is frighteningly displayed; the minimal staging and drab, colourless costumes only add to the realisation of its stark hopelessness. Mother Courage above all shows the commercialism behind all wars and director Kirstie Davis more than captures Brecht’s views of this and other issues relating to war.

I cannot think of a more demanding role for an actor to take on, yet Sherolyn Luby inhabits this character throughout with only a few moments off stage. Both through her dialogue and the way she deals with the events that threaten her livelihood this is not a woman to toy with. Her indomitable spirit never flags even at the end when, with her three children dead, she continues her journey pulling her cart herself. She is coarse and demanding and we are not meant to like her - but we cannot help but respect her stoical acceptance of her situation and her struggle to survive. This is indeed a superb performance.

It is never easy to play a character where no script is involved but Rhiannon Spencer in her role as the shy dumb daughter Kattrin more than makes up for the lack of dialogue through her body language, which at times made me want to reach out and hug her. The production involves cast members taking on different roles and Jake Baker has the most diverse roles of the Cook and Mother Courage’s son Swiss Cheese. The brash womanising Cook comes over very strongly and it is hard to accept that this is the same person portraying the honest but extremely simple son. Josh Powell-Jenkins as the Chaplain brings out the cant and hypocrisy of the Church in its attitude to war - one of the issues that Brecht was highlighting - but in doing so manages also to lighten the effect by introducing a little humour into the character. The character of Yvette needs a very blousy approach and Chloe Chevis attacks this with a vengeance, commanding the stage with a powerful presence. Daniel Greest also makes a big impression in several roles, not least as son Eilif.

A variety of characters, whether peasants or military, are filled more than adequately by the rest of the cast with a variety of cameo roles instantly recognisable and believable. The original music and songs by Katharine Piercey, reminiscent of Kurt Weill’s Mahagonny, reinforced the message and left me in no doubt about the devastation that war brings to mankind.

This is a powerful production by The Arts University College at Bournemouth and, whilst not the most joyful of plays I have seen, was nevertheless one that I will certainly remember for some time.