Mother Courage and Her Children – Shakespeare’s Globe
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...