Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh, and touring 2006

Mother Courage And Her Children

YOU WONDER if Bertolt Brecht wasn’t his own worst enemy. By producing so much theoretical writing, the German playwright created the impression that his work was difficult, cold and academic.

You have to remind yourself that Brecht was a man of the theatre: putting on shows came first, theorising came later. There’s a case to be made that not even Brecht himself was a true Brechtian.

The first thing you notice about Benchtours’ ambitious staging of ‘Mother Courage’ is what good fun it is. Director Peter Clerke knows all about the “alienation effect”, about getting actors to “play” roles instead of attempting to “become” their characters, but he doesn’t let himself get bogged down in the theory.

He also knows there’s plenty of straight-to-the-gallery comedy in this epic tale, and just because it raises question after question about the ethics and economics of war doesn’t mean he can’t have a few laughs along the way.

It’s this lightness of touch that helps make a first half of nearly two hours slip by much faster than you’d expect. The story of a small businesswoman scraping a living through the 30 Years War is bleak, but the production is well tuned in to the gallows humour of those who survive on the edge.

Like Shakespeare before him, Brecht liked to give an audience a good night out, even if he was hoping to ferment a political revolution at the same time, and there is as much wry commentary on human foibles as there is dialectical debate.

The same goes for the music. Songs are a regular feature of the playwright’s work and here they’re given a central place with an excellent, angular score for saxophone, percussion and accordion performed live by composer Steve Kettley and Pete Garnett.

It’s a wonder that Catherine Gillard has the energy to break into song as well as take on the mammoth central role, but she does both effortlessly. Hardly off the stage, she is an intelligent, likeable Mother Courage, even as she is making the cruellest decisions, always prioritising financial survival above her own emotional wellbeing.

Her performance is a real achievement. She’s supported – wordlessly – by a plangent Cerrie Burnell as her mute daughter and other strong performances, notably from Deborah Arnott as a plucky prostitute Yvette.

(Mother Courage can be seen at Universal Hall, Findhorn, on 1 November, and Orkney Arts Theatre, Kirkwall, on 3 November).

© Mark Fisher, 2006