Brecht: Mother Courage and her Children

by Peter Thomson, Viv Gardner

Overview

This is the first comprehensive study in English of Brecht's Mother Courage in production. Peter Thomson provides a detailed account of Brecht's own production in 1949 and then explores how the play has been transmitted—from Joan Littlewood's production in 1956 to the Royal National Theatre in 1995. The book also examines interpretations by Judi Dench, Glenda Jackson, and Richard Schechner, among others. Seminal productions from the continent are also analyzed and a final chapter examines the play's influence on among others, Peter Brook, and highlights the new urgency of the text in light of the wars in former Yugoslavia and Uganda.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521597746
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	12/11/1997
Series:	Plays in Production
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.51(d)

Table of Contents

List of illustrations; General preface; Acknowledgements; A note on translation; 1. Sources; 2. The text and the stage; 3. The Berlin production: 1949; 4. Mother Courage in English; 5. Mother Courage in the Germanies and in France; 6. The afterlife of Mother Courage ; Productions cited; Notes; Select bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"Thomson surveys a wide range of productions—German, US, Swiss, French, Austrian, British, and one Ugandan—combining critical acumen with a sharp eye for detail and a wealth of information....Highly recommended for theater and literature collections in academic libraries." M.C. Riggio, Choice

"Thomson's book will...rapidly become a standard reference, especially for directors and dramaturges with the ambition and fortitude to tackle this demanding and rewarding classic." Richard J. Rundell, Monatshefte

From the Publisher