Mother Courage at UAH: a Review
by Sandy Shattuck
The University of Alabama in Huntsville Theatre program
is presenting Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage
and Her Children, which will run through this weekend.
I got to see the second performance last night and
left the theater still thinking about some of the
scenes. We read the play in ENG 102 and everyone will
write a review, so here’s my contribution.
Mother Courage is not an easy piece to stage —
I don’t think any Brecht piece is all that easy
to stage, especially if one attempts a real Brechtian
production. But UAH Theatre gave us a good taste of
epic theatre (also known as dialectic theatre).
Set design in this production is really strong, especially
given challenges such as the small size of Chan Auditorium
stage and the huge prop at the heart of Mother Courage:
the cart. This set addresses those challenges by including
two raised platforms (the stage left platform is about
a foot higher and extends to the very end of stage
left, while the stage right platform is raised only
a few inches and extends a bit over the stage) and
a small but tall wooden structure stage right that
serves as storage space for props needed in various
scenes and as the peasant barn that Kattrin climbs
at the end of the play.
The platforms function in several ways: they give
actors more room, especially since the cart takes
up most of the central stage; they allow clear focal
points for parts of scenes or when actors sing; they
facilitate simultaneous scenes, such as when the Commander
praises Eilif while Mother Courage haggles over the
sale of a capon with the Cook; and they allow actors
places to sit or posture (Kattrin sits on the stage
left platform while the Chaplain sings, Mother Courage
and the Cook dangle their legs over the stage right
platform as they talk).
Mother Courage’s cart, without which she is
nothing, as she says, is wheeled in at the start of
the play and stays on stage for the duration. Each
scene, the cart is moved slightly to better facilitate
the action. Almost a character itself, the cart also
serves to store props and to keep Kattrin hidden at
times. From inside the cart, Kattrin changes the flag
depending on which country or religion Mother Courage
decides to side with.
Lighting is nothing fancy but effective. Usually
somewhat muted, the lighting changes to bright spotlight
when someone sings. The Brechtian posters announcing
what will happen during a scene have been replaced
by slides from a data projector thrown onto the back
center stage wall. The lighting from the data projector
and the blue-ish patterned background of the slide
provide another eerie layer of light in between scenes.
The data projector might have been used to even more
creative Brechtian effect (more commentary on the
action? more interruption?), and I also wondered why
the full caption for each scene was not displayed.
Below stage left stands the piano, sheet music lit
by a slightly orange light. Rolf Goebel (UAH professor
of German) plays the excellent score. The piano sounds
slightly tinny, which adds to the Brechtian use of
music. The actors’ singing varies widely in quality.
This is a good thing in epic theatre, since the audience
should not be lulled into identification with the
actor and should not romanticize through song. Other
sound effects are either recorded (gun and cannon
shots) or spoken. Piano and sound effects never upstage
the actors. Sound in this production creates synergy.
As for the cast — they’re energetic, highly
competent, and often inspired. Kate Chiroux wears
Mother Courage like a second skin, never faltering
in lines, movement, or song. This makes her a little
bit too sympathetic and by the end of the play, we’re
rooting for her more than we should be. This is true
for the entire cast, none of whom plays in Brechtian
style. That’s OK. To act the way Brecht prescribes
has got to be a tough task, since it demands a counter-intuitive,
postmodern commentary on one’s role. I read somewhere
that the ideal Mother Courage acts as if she (the
actress) is mad at the character. How does one achieve
that?
Kattrin’s character, who is dumb, requires lots
of physicality in order to communicate, and Elizabeth
Baxley relies on her ballet background to traverse
the stage. Her final scenes (banging on the drum to
warn the village, laughing at the possibility of being
killed, lying limp in Mother Courage’s arms)
work well.
David Wood as the Chaplain and Shawn Tracey as the
Cook both do admirable jobs with their singing and
speaking parts. The whole cast works very well together.
This indicates a fine director at work.
Go see Mother Courage and Her Children. It’s
rare to catch a Brecht play, and UAH Theatre is proving
to be a place to find good drama. This past summer,
Meryl Streep as Mother Courage and Kevin Kline as
the Cook performed at a free Central Park production
directed by George C. Wolfe, with script newly translated
by Tony Kushner. New York City has nothin’ on
Huntsville!
