Written by
Bertolt Brecht
Directed by
Alan Schneider
Produced in 1977/78
Translated by Ralph Manheim
Music and Lyrics by Paul Dessau
Directed by Alan Schneider.
Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children is a play about war and the indomitablity of the human spirit. Unconventional in form and style, bitter and sardonic in tone, it is a biting commentary on man's struggle to survive.
Written in 1939, Mother Courage is set in the devastating Thirty Years' War of the 17th century. The heroine is a Swedish canteen owner who drags around her wagonload of belts and brandy, selling her wares to whatever army is winning. She is a shrewd, earthy, toughened woman who has learned to wheel and deal to survive. The episodic plot follows Mother Courage and her three grown children as they travel from one battlefield to another. In their wanderings, they encounter a Protestant chaplin who hides out from the victorious Catholics, a Dutch cook who makes the best out of the war's miseries, a prostitute who becomes a wealthy widow and sundry others. The action of the play is heightened by haunting ballads composed by Paul Dessau.
Gregg Almquist
The Acting Company: Chapeau, Mother Courage, Camino Real, King Lear. Training: University of Minnesota.
Dennis Bacigalupi
The Acting Company: Chapeau, Mother Courage, Camino Real, The Cradle Will Rock, King Lear. Training: California University at San Francisco.
Brooks Baldwin
The Acting Company: The Robber Bridegroom, Edward II, The Orchestra, The Time of Your Life, Three Sisters, The Kitchen, Love's Labours Lost, The Way of the World, She Stoops to Conquer, Chapeau, Mother Courage, Camino Real, The Cradle Will Rock, King Lear. Training: Juilliard.
Frances Conroy
The Acting Company: Chapeau, Mother Courage, Camino Real, A Voice of My Own, Broadway, Romeo and Juliet, King Lear. Training: Juilliard.
Kevin Conroy
The Acting Company: Chapeau, Mother Courage, Camino Real, King Lear. Training: Juilliard (BFA).
Daniel Corcoran
* Deceased
The Acting Company: The Cradle Will Rock, Chapeau, Mother Courage, Camino Real, Broadway, Romeo and Juliet, King Lear. Training: California Institute of the Arts (BFA).
Tom Donaldson
The Acting Company: Chapeau, Mother Courage and Her Children, Camino Real, King Lear. Training: London Academy of Music and Dramtic Art, American Conservatry Theatre.
Judson Earney
The Acting Company: The Kitchen, Love's Labour's Lost, The Way of the World, Chapeau, Mother Courage and Her Children.
Leslie Geraci
The Acting Company: Antigone, Romeo and Juliet, A Voice of My Own, King Lear, Chapeau. Training: Loyola University.
John Greenleaf
The Acting Company: The White Devil, Camino Real, Mother Courage, Chapeau, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet. Training: University of California, San Diego (MFA).
James Harper
The Acting Company: The Robber Bridegroom, Edward II, The Time of Your Life, The Three Sisters, The Kitchen, Love's Labour's Lost, The Way of the World, She Stoops to Conquer, Chapeau, Mother Courage, Camino Real, The Cradle Will Rock, King Lear, The Taming of the Shrew. Training: Juilliard.
Harriet Harris
The Acting Company: Chapeau, Mother Courage, Camino Real, The Voice of My Own, Five by Tenn, The White Devil, Split, Domino Courts, Broadway, Romeo and Juliet, Elizabeth I, King Lear. Training: Juilliard.
Jeffrey Hayenga
The Acting Company: The Kitchen, Love's Labour's Lost, The Way of the World, King Lear, Chapeau, Mother Courage, Camino Real. Training: University of Minnnesota.
Patricia Hodges
The Acting Company: The Kitchen, Love's Labour's Lost, The Way of the World, King Lear, Chapeau, Mother Courage and Her Children, Camino Real, On the Verge. Training: University of Washington.
Anderson Matthews
The Acting Company: The Three Sisters, Scapin, Love's Labour's Lost, The Way of The World, The Robber Bridegroom, Arms and the Man, The Time of You Life, She Stoops to Conquer, Chapeau, Mother Courage and Her Children, Camino Real, King Lear, Edward II, The Taming of the Shrew, Ten by Tennessee, The Cradle Will Rock. Training: Carnegie-Mellon University.
Tom Alan Robbins
The Acting Company: The White Devil, Romeo and Juliet, Antigone, A Voice of my Own, King Lear, Chapeau, Mother Courage and her Children, On the Verge. Training: Juilliard.
Mary Lou Rosato
Founding member of The Acting Company, Actor: USA, The Hostage, Women Beware Women, The Lower Depths, The Three Sisters, The Beggar's Opera, Measure for Measure, The Robber Bridegroom, Edward II, Mother Courage and Her Children, King Lear, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Camino Real, Orchestra, She Stoops to Conquer, The Time of Your Life, The Cradle Will Rock, Ten by Tennessee, The School for Scandal. Director/Adaptor: King Henry V. Training: Juilliard.
Michael Savage
The Acting Company: Mother Courage and Her Children, Chapeau, King Lear. Training: SUNY Purchase. aka Ron Jacobson.
David Schramm
Founding member of The Acting Company (1973-75): King Lear, The Cradle Will Rock, The Three Sisters, The Beggar's Opera, Measure for Measure, Scapin, Next Time I'll Sing to You, The Robber Bridegroom, Edward II, The Taming of the Shrew, The Time of Your Life. Training: Juilliard.
Henry Stram
The Acting Company: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, The Cradle Will Rock, King Lear, Mother Courage and Her Children, Chapeau, Camino Real. Training: Juilliard.