Mother Courage and Her Children

Mother Courage and Her Children (German: Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder) is a play written in 1939 by the German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956), with significant contributions from Margarete Steffin.^[1] Four theatrical productions were produced in Switzerland and Germany from 1941 to 1952, the last three supervised and/or directed by Brecht, who had returned to East Germany from the United States.

Several years after Brecht's death in 1956, the play was adapted as a German film, Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder (1961), starring Helene Weigel, Brecht's widow and a leading actress.

Mother Courage is considered by some to be the greatest play of the 20th century, and perhaps also the greatest anti-war play of all time.^[2] Critic Brett D. Johnson points out, "Although numerous theatrical artists and scholars may share artistic director Oskar Eustis's opinion that Brecht's masterpiece is the greatest play of the twentieth century, productions of Mother Courage remain a rarity in contemporary American theatre."^[3]

^ Brecht Chronik, Werner Hecht, editor. (Suhrkamp Verlag, 1998), p. 566.
^ Oskar Eustis, "Program Note" for the New York Shakespeare Festival production of Mother Courage and Her Children, starring Meryl Streep, August 2006.
^ Brett D. Johnson, "Review of Mother Courage and Her Children," Theatre Journal, Volume 59, Number 2, May 2007, pp. 281–282.

[1] Brecht Chronik, Werner Hecht, editor. (Suhrkamp Verlag, 1998), p. 566.

[2] Oskar Eustis, "Program Note" for the New York Shakespeare Festival production of Mother Courage and Her Children, starring Meryl Streep, August 2006.

[3] Brett D. Johnson, "Review of Mother Courage and Her Children," Theatre Journal, Volume 59, Number 2, May 2007, pp. 281–282.

[1]

[2]

[3]