Mother Courage and Her Children

by Brecht, Bertolt; Rorrison, Hugh; Willett, John

• ISBN13: 9780413492708
• ISBN10: 0413492702
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-03-15
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Methuen Drama

Summary

In this chronicle of the Thirty Years War, Mother Courage follows the armies back and forth across Europe, selling provisions and liquor from her canteen wagon. One by one she loses her children to the war but will not part with her livelihood - the wagon. The Berlin production of 1949, with Helene Weigel as Mother Courage, marked the foundation of the Berliner Ensemble.This volume contains expert notes on the author's life and work, historical and political background to the play, photographs from stage productions and a glossary of difficult words and phrases.

Author Biography

A major dramatist of the twentieth century, Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) was the founder of one of the most influential theatre companies, the Berliner Ensemble, and the creator of some of the landmark plays of the twentieth century: The Threepenny Opera, Life of Galileo, Mother Courage and The Caucasian Chalk Circle. His plays and dramatic theory are central to the study of modern theatre.