Tuesday 3 June 2014

Stratford Festival 2014 # 1: "Mother Courage and Her Children"

One of the great advantages of living so close to Stratford is that it becomes easy to just bop up there for a single performance and then come right home again.  Quite a switch from the days when I lived in Elliot Lake and Stratford was a single annual expedition with 5 or more plays crammed into as few days as possible!  So this was my first outing of the season, but I already have tickets for 5 or 6 more plays -- and may even add one or two more as the summer wears on!

Mother Courage and Her Children
by Bertolt Brecht and Margarete Steffin
Translated by David Edgar
Directed by Martha Henry

Right away, some of you may be wondering about the attribution of this play to two people.  However, scholarship has now thoroughly established Steffin's role as a major (if not equal) collaborator in the creation of this and other Brecht scripts, while some of his other works were created in collaboration with other women in his life.  The program notes on this occasion included a detailed examination of what the concealment of Steffin's role says about the value placed on women's contributions in society.

I actually saw this show over a week ago.  The reason I withheld this review until now is that I saw the play in a preview, and did not want to publish my thoughts and comments until after the show had its official opening night.  Also, I had a great deal I wanted to say and (for once) I definitely needed time to organize my thoughts before beginning -- so this is going to be a bit longer than average.  Please bear with me!

This was my first-ever experience with a Brecht play, and I had definite expectations based on the little I had read about him and his work.  This experience proved the old saw that "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing" since I had gravely misunderstood the nature and purpose of a Brechtian dramatic conception.  Incidentally, as Brecht's name has now become a widely-accepted adjective in the theatre world, I wonder how the man himself would feel about being transformed into a theatrical demi-god or seeing his work performed in one of the world's leading classical theatres?

Undoubtedly this is a funny play -- up to a point.  I forget exactly where the point came, but it was somewhere early in the second half that I found myself saying in my head:  "Why are you laughing?  This isn't really funny at all, certainly not something to laugh at!"  I think others may have been having similar feelings because the audience's laughter grew gradually more uncertain as the play rolled on. 
 
Brecht himself described his work as "epic theatre" but I have trouble seeing the connection as the word carries other and quiet different connotations for me -- in particular, the "heroic" connotations of classical epic poetry.  Mother Courage is so intensely anti-heroic!  It has a lot of funny lines but I wouldn't precisely call it a comedy.  It has heavyweight dramatic moments but certainly isn't a tragedy.  It has emotional scenes which are immediately short-circuited by "business as usual".  The characters simultaneously invite you into the world of the play and gently push you back out of it.  In the end, you leave the theatre neither loving nor hating the characters but wondering what the hell made them behave that way!  And as you start thinking about that issue (and perhaps discussing it with others), it is then -- after the show is over and done -- that you are processing the whole experience the way Brecht wished.

It was abundantly clear throughout the performance that director Martha Henry had a firm grasp of what was needed, and was full of imaginative conceptions to make the show come to life.

Mother Courage aptly demonstrates the reality that a classical actor can do just about anything on stage short of twist himself or herself into a pretzel (some of them can even do that!).  The show includes numerous songs, which are directed to be sung and played by members of the company.  To reinforce the "unreality" of the presentation, the company members strolled around the auditorium before the show and at intermission, meeting and chatting with audience members.  I met one young company member who said he had never picked up a guitar until the preparations for the show began but was now playing it on stage!  Only one of the singing actors had any significant issues making herself heard, mostly when she was facing the other side of the Tom Patterson Theatre, but it didn't really matter because her body language conveyed her meaning quite readily!  The songs were composed by Keith Thomas in a style that bridged folk and music hall, with a strong dash of cabaret thrown in.  This worked very well for the piece.

The set comprised an anonymous dark backdrop crowned by a sloping straw-fringed roof, with a single large tree stump near the fore stage point.  Other set pieces were whizzed on and off by the performers.  In spite of the long, narrow apron stage, Mother Courage's wagon was a large, unwieldy piece that could only just be turned around on the stage.  Plainly it required a considerable effort to move it.

One of the greatest ironies of the script is the way that Mother Courage herself (real name: Anna Fierling) oscillates between hard-nosed businesswoman and nurturing mother, while she almost simultaneously builds up and then demolishes every indication of any truth behind her business nom de plume.  As she ranges the battlefields of the Thirty Years' War, she's always on the lookout for a chance to make a fast profit any way she can.  At the same time, the mother in her struggles to keep her three children out of the war from which she is making her living.  The performer who can reconcile all the divergent aspects of this character within a single person must be an actor of extraordinary power and skill. 

Seana McKenna has certainly proved herself to be all of that and then some over the years.  Her resume is a roll-call of memorable performances, fully living up to the stature of some of the great central roles of the English-speaking theatre.  With that in mind, I have to say that this was one of the most gripping performances I have seen her give.  She stayed at all times in the character's self-made trap, ricocheting between the contradictory motives of profit and nurture.  McKenna's wonderful voice can command the attention of the audience, even in the most intimate asides, and at full throttle goes ringing off into space, leaving a distinct echo behind.  Her finest moment came when the body of her son Swiss Cheese is carried in for her to identify.  In what could have been an emotional blockbuster moment, McKenna still kept her emotions on a tight rein to fulfil the intentions of the playwright.  The feelings were there, and could be felt, but were never allowed to cut loose.  All of her gifts came into play as Mother Courage, right down to the heartbreaking moment at the end when she slowly and effortfully pulls the wagon around and down that long, long stage one last time -- alone.

Next to Seana McKenna came another powerful stage presence, Ben Carlson, in the role of the Chaplain.  Playing a man of diffidence and unworldly naivete is certainly something I have never seen this actor do before, but as always the character and all his words came across with great clarity and a strong dash of humility.

Geraint Wyn Davies played the camp cook with a bit of bravado and a lot of subtlety, not always the strongest quality in his work. 

Among Mother Courage's children, the strongest one is -- has to be -- the deaf-mute daughter Kattrin.  Last season I found Carmen Grant a little out-of-place with her characteristic smiley expression as the nun Isabella in Measure for Measure.  As Kattrin, what a difference!  The smile was still there but shot through at all times with a characteristic sadness.  With what desperate energy she strove to make herself understood, to be heard!  A performance to remember.

E. B. Smith was an appealing mixture of masculine dominance and child-like naivete as Eilif, the older son who is first to go into the war.  Antoine Yared was also excellent as the child-man Swiss Cheese, taking his duty to the paymaster and the strongbox so seriously that it ends up costing him his life.  His eager facial expression and speech were perfectly suited to this role.

Finally, I have to commend the fine work of Stratford newcomer Deidre Gillard-Rowlings as the camp following whore, Yvette Pottier.  What a wonderful mixture of flamboyant voice and gesture, but always leavened with more than a touch of true humanity.  Excellent work in what could easily lapse into a stereotypical cardboard cutout of "whore with heart of gold".

All in all, a memorable performance.  And I'm still thinking and processing what I saw and heard.  Since that is what Brecht wanted, this production has to be counted as a success.

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