We round up the reviews for Elle White’s production based on Anna Jordan’s translation of Bertolt Brecht’s play.
Broadway World: “For all its ambition and Terry’s remarkable energy in portraying a remarkably energetic woman, the vision of this production never resolves into a clear picture, too sharp at some times, too fuzzy at others.”
The Guardian: “The production does full justice in its portrait of complicated, imperfect and doggedly hopeful motherhood, too. Courage plots her children’s survival to the end, in spite of the violence around her. When you see her pushing her wagon alone in the final moments, it feels truly tragic, but she is surviving, still.”
WhatsOnStage: “In all, the achievement of the production is to make Brecht’s characters and their lives both symbolic and real; in the collective space of the Globe his warnings about capitalism, and elites who manipulate the working man for their own personal gain ring uncannily true.”
Theatre & Tonic: “Overall, this is a stunningly powerful play and a rallying cry against the awful costs of war. If you are looking for profound prose, fantastic casts, a bleak dystopian wasteland and an unforgettable night out at the theatre, then this is the show for you.”
All That Dazzles: ” There’s much to admire in this Mother Courage and Her Children: a commanding lead performance from Michelle Terry, a sharp contemporary lens, and a production team willing to wrestle with how Brecht might function in the Globe. But admiration isn’t quite the same as impact. For all its ambition, the production remains caught between the brutality of its subject and the openness of its surroundings, never quite finding the defiance or devastation it needs. Like Mother Courage herself, it keeps moving forward with determination, but leaves too much of the emotional cargo behind.”
London Theatre Reviews.co.uk: “This is a Mother Courage for an era of disaster capitalism. It is weary, angry, and deliberately unsatisfying emotionally. You may leave weeping. but you may just as easily leave suspicious of everyone around you.”
Time Out: “It keeps a warped sense of vibrancy going until almost the end, before deftly introducing a fleeting moment of vulnerability that’s the nearest thing this broken world will get to a moment of grace before the war juggernaut staggers on. A whispering note of pain from Terry is a disarming gut punch that feels powerfully necessary.”
British Theatre Guide: “Michelle Terry as Courage is a lively, formidable figure, quick to find ways to make some money out of the war, from selling meat and weapons, to putting a sign outside her wagon reading “Girls Girls Girls”. Unfortunately, she is not always able to protect her children, who are effectively gobbled up by the war. Even then, she tries to find some consolation, as when an attacker leaves a deep scar on her daughter Kattrin’s face, she claims it will protect her from other men.”
Theatre Weekly: “But in nature, the production is Brechtian especially for its non-representational aesthetics: the shared light where audiences and actors can see each other; their laughter is not only the reaction, but part of it; even the fussy sounds of the planes overhead form part of it, adding war-time nerves to the atmosphere. On this stage, Brecht’s songs – famously understood as an alienation device – are never an interruption or suspension, but seamlessly infused into the theatrical whole.”
The Reviews Hub: “Anna Jordan’s translation, first performed in 2019 at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre, transposes the action to a nebulous world where the warring factions are the Blues and the Purples. A third force, the terrorist Oranges, makes their presence felt later on. This abstraction makes the setting feel even more contemporary: references to a war based on territory and resources, with military figures spouting Biblical rhetoric, feel remarkably prescient of the current US-Iran conflict. Meanwhile, references to drones suggest the war in Ukraine. The parallels all too sadly abound.”
Everything Theatre: “Together these elements combine to make for a theatrical experiment that finds some novelty in creative risks, but not enough to make the production feel truly insightful or a knockout. Perhaps with more risks, more life, it could have gotten there.”
To book tickets visit: https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/whats-on/mother-courage-and-her-children/