Brecht without being Brechtian, Mother Courage at the Globe is an array of sound and colour that departs from the play’s theatrical roots.
Brecht’s classic play about the effect of war was written in response to the rise of Nazi Germany, set centuries earlier, to create distance so that the audience could observe the events without connecting to them. Anna Jordan’s translation brings the play into the modern era, referencing drones and missiles, the distance instead achieved by changing the names of countries to colours. We see Blue soldiers fighting Purple ones, with the Orange revolutionaries rebelling against both.
In the midst of this is Mother Courage, played by the Globe’s Artistic Director Michelle Terry. She is a war profiteer. Beginning the play with three children and a handcart of wares, her aim is to keep her and her children safe while bargaining her way through life to improve her lot. After all, what is the point of surviving if you have nothing? Her family and cart follow the army (whichever one happens to be nearest), so that she can sell what she has to the soldiers, whether this is clothes, women or ammunition. As she loses her children, she rises in status, before inevitably falling again. Terry is a dominant presence on the stage, moving from disaster to opportunity with an energy that sweeps the audience along with her. Ferdy Roberts as the minister makes a good foil for her, and the two of them on stage together were the most interesting part of the show. Nadine Higgin as the prostitute, Yvette, provides a colourful upbeat dynamism as someone who enjoys her life rather than battling through it. Weaker performances came from the younger members of the cast, especially when it came to singing. The exception was Mother Courage’s daughter, Kattrin (Rachelle Diedericks), who changed during the course of the play from an excited child to withdrawn and unhappy, all while being mute. Vinnie Heaven’s Eilif right from the start came across as cocky and laddish, so when he asks one of the most important questions in the play – why is killing wrong in peacetime but not in war? – it gets lost in his character’s arrogance.
The Globe theatre is a more immersive venue than any other, with the audience able to lean on the stage. Performing a play that is supposed to disconnect the audience from the piece isn’t natural for this setting, which is perhaps why director Elle While chose to abandon Brecht’s ethos and stage the type of show that modern audiences are used to – elaborate and emotive, the kind that draws you in, with plenty of up-tempo songs to lighten the tone when it gets too dark. Gone are Brechtian traditions of minimal set and props, and in their place are a pit full of mattresses where the dead are thrown, crates, tents, seats, a stripper pole, petals raining from the ceiling, and actors standing behind us to draw us further into the story. Brecht’s narrator (played by Max Runham), instead of helping to break the fourth wall and keep us disconnected, is an afterthought, barely given any space, on and off stage as quickly as possible, the only concession to his character is that he joins the audience to watch the action play out.
If you know nothing about Brecht, and have never seen any of his plays before, then you will most likely come out of this show having enjoyed it. The spectacle and the performances of the leads are strong enough to keep you entertained for a few hours. But perhaps that is what modern audiences need. Endless news reports from countries far away may have desensitised us to the horrors of war, but seeing the struggles of Mother Courage brings it home again. Ultimately, if you leave thinking about war and how it affects us, then the performers and Brecht have achieved their aim.
The play runs until the 27th of June at Shakespeare’s Globe. Tickets are available here: https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/whats-on/
Reviewer: Charlotte Mansfield
Reviewed: 15th May 2026
North West End UK Rating: