Mother Courage and Her Children

By Bertolt Brecht & Margarete Steffin, music by Paul Dessau

Directed by Lars Øyno

Translated to Norwegian by Øyvind Berg

‘Mother Courage and Her Children’ had its premiere at Grusomhetens Teater (The Theatre of Cruelty) on the 8th of March 2023. 

This anti-war play, written during exile in Stockholm in 1939-1940, is considered one of Brecht’s most accomplished examples of epic theatre.

Bertolt Brecht’s play is set against the backdrop of the Thirty Years’ War in Europe from 1618-1648. The main character; Anna Fierling, also known as Mother Courage is a travelling merchant, (selling food, drink and tobacco to soldiers in the military camp), along with her three adult children, she navigates a landscape of ever-changing borders. They rely on the war; through the sale of goods from their wagon, peace could mean ruin. The audience is confronted with the brutal aesthetic that governs where soldiers operate. Homes, countries and people are destroyed under these conditions. Mother Courage seemingly doesn’t take a stance on what she sees; for her, the business is the most important. Two of her children die, and the third gets lost on the journey. In the final tableau, she pulls the cart alone behind the marching troops.

Reviews & Commentary

“Grusomhetens Teater, this wild bird of a theatre company, ingeniously chooses to perform newer classics, true to the original versions, while always maintaining their own peculiar, eruptive style.”

• Bent Kvalvik, Dag og Tid 

“This is not the kind of theatre where we lean back in our seats and allow ourselves to be captivated by beautiful, smooth voices… Director Lars Øyno is committed to the text, and here the audience can experience Brecht by the book.”

• Tomine Sandal, Scenekunst

“Bård Lie Thorbjørnsen’s set design and costume alludes to the past, poverty and hardship, but is not realistically placed in the 1600s when the Thirty Year War took place. Nor does the play attempt to be modernised through contemporary costumes and set design, as we often see in productions at institutional theatres. Instead, the emphasis has been on fidelity to Brecht’s original presentation, both in terms of text, music, theoretical principles around epic theatre, and performance practices.”

“The faithful continuation of Brecht’s legacy gives the performance a sense of history. Whilst carrying this legacy it still stands on its own feet, providing us with an exceptionally intimate and authentic historical theatre experience.”

•  Ragnhild Tronstad, Shakespeare Tidsskrift