Mother Courage
Deborah Warner's stunning new production of 'Mother Courage and her Children' brings to Brecht's tragedy of war a stark contemporary resonance; the cyclical presence of war permeates the minds of the audience just as it does the lives and narratives of the characters from the outset. Before the performance begins in earnest, distorted speeches of twentieth century leaders including Churchill and Bush are played over sounds of artillery fire and battle chaos; an explicit demonstration from the get-go that Mother Courage has equal resonance today as it did when Brecht wrote it in 1939.
Brecht's 'Verfremdungseffekt' (or distancing effect) whereby the audience are not to become immersed in the action presented on stage and remain active, critical observers is accomplished in this performance through a number of strategies. The most tangible is the use of signs and captions; locations are non-naturalistic in their representation. Throughout the performance, backstage processes are put on stage as a further means through which the artifice of performance can be deconstructed by the audience. Elements of the production process which remain hidden in many contemporary performances are present here; from a group of stage managers dancing along to one of Duke Special's raucous compositions, to the visible scene transitions, we are actively reminded that we are watching a theatrical construction, not a slice of real life.
Fiona Shaw's commanding performance in the title role lurches from the effervescent (when bartering with The Cook over the price of a chicken: "It's practically a turkey") to the tragic when she loses each of her adopted children in quick succession. Shaw truly makes the role her own from the moment she arrives on stage serenading the audience and her confident physicality cements Courage's status as earth-mother come shrewd business woman who is rarely intimidated. On the occasions where the language of buying and selling fails her and she loses control of situations (such as the death of Swiss Cheese), we become all the more empathetic towards her. Shaw interacts with and feeds off of the audience as much as she does her fellow performers and fills the vast space of the Olivier with an energy which enlivens the entire performance.
Original music by Duke Special (accompanied by his band) brings texture and vibrancy to the performance; the songs he has composed (particularly in their lyrical content) simultaneously evoke a spontaneous, gig-like atmosphere as well as heightening the emotional significance and underlying themes of the piece. The music is infectious and poignantly guides the narrative through to denouement.
The fact that the audience feels such empathy for Courage, her children and their plight in this production seems contradictory to Brecht's requirement that the spectator remains objective. However, I would argue that the more we engage with the characters, the more protracted our incomprehension and interrogation of war becomes, accomplishing Brecht's objective of creating an active spectator who understands their capacity for social change as a result of the performance that they have watched.
Mother Courage runs at The National Theatre until December 8th 2009. Entry Pass ?5 tickets are available for all 15-25 year old at the National, for more details see http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/entrypass.
Comments
No comments yet. Use the form above to have your say.
