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y separately published work icon Mother Courage & Her Children single work   drama   - 2 hours 40 minutes
Adaptation of Mother Courage and Her Children Bertolt Brecht , 1941 single work drama
Note: Translated and adapted from Bertolt Brecht's 1939 play 'Mother Courage & Her Children'.
Issue Details: First known date: 2013... 2013 Mother Courage & Her Children
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Bertolt Brecht's epic morality tale about the ravages of war is given a unique twist by Queensland Theatre Company Artistic Director Wesley Enoch and Paula Nazarski in a dazzling new translation.

Instead of the 'Thirty Years' War of 1600s Europe, this near-future incarnation of the age-old story is set against the bleak backdrop of a post-apocalyptic desert where Mad Max might be at home - an Australia ravaged by devastating conflict, where life is cheap but business is still business. Ursula Yovich is the titular canteen-wagon mistress, shrewdly driving hard bargains as she shepherds her brood of three through this unforgiving, harsh wilderness. With an all-Indigenous cast, this fresh spin on Brecht's play delicately folds in themes of land ownership, the impact of mining and the stolen generation.' (Source: QPAC website www.qpac.com.au)

Exhibitions

8733014
8931289
15517639

Production Details

    • Director: Wesley Enoch
    • Designer: Christina Smith
    • Lighting Designer: Ben Hughes
    • Composer: John Rodgers
    • Assistant Director: Janine Matthews
    • Cast: David Page, Ursula Yovich, Michael Tuahine, Chenoa Deemal, Eliah Watego, Luke Carroll, Paula Nazarski, Roxanne McDonald, George Bostock, Robert Preston, Dave Dow and Mark Atkins
  • Performed at the Playhouse, QPAC, Queensland Performing Arts Centre, South Brisbane 25 May to 16 June 2013.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Works about this Work

Aboriginalizing Mother Courage: Brecht in Australia Prateek , 2024 single work criticism
— Appears in: Journal of Postcolonial Writing , vol. 60 no. 1 2024; (p. 84-98)

'This article investigates the crucial role of Brechtian aesthetics in representing the voice of Aboriginal Australians. It examines the theatre of Wesley Enoch, an Aboriginal Australian director and playwright, and argues that Enoch’s 2013 adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children, performed at the Queensland Theatre Company, Brisbane, formed an instance of resistance against epistemic hegemony. The first part of the article examines the device of the heckler, central to the writings of Australian Aboriginals, by focusing on Kevin Gilbert’s The Cherry Pickers (1988) and shows how the device functions to articulate the peripheral voices of the Aboriginal Australians. The second part demonstrates how Enoch employed the heckler trope through his dramaturgy to protest against the Australian nation state. Broadly, it illustrates how Enoch’s production used Aboriginal aesthetics to voice Aborigines’ challenge to established norms, an act that remained independent of Brechtian theatre’s previous uses in the Australian context.' (Publication abstract)

A Mother's War, and a Triumph for Nevin John McCallum , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian , 12 June 2015; (p. 16)

— Review of Mother Courage & Her Children Wesley Enoch (translator), Paula Nazarski (translator), 2013 single work drama
A Surprisingly Subdued Nevin Loses Courage under Fire Jason Blake , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 12 June 2015; (p. 20)

— Review of Mother Courage & Her Children Wesley Enoch (translator), Paula Nazarski (translator), 2013 single work drama
Backstage Tour Maria Ceresa , 2013 single work column
— Appears in: The West End Magazine , Spring no. 16 2013; (p. 78-80)
Turn of the Page Phil Brown , 2013 single work interview
— Appears in: Brisbane News , 5-11 June no. 934 2013; (p. 14)
Cautionary Tale of Indigenous Cast Bridget Cormack , 2013 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian , 17 May 2013; (p. 6)

— Review of Mother Courage & Her Children Wesley Enoch (translator), Paula Nazarski (translator), 2013 single work drama
Wealth of Cruel Tragedy James Harper , 2013 single work review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 4 June 2013; (p. 42)

— Review of Mother Courage & Her Children Wesley Enoch (translator), Paula Nazarski (translator), 2013 single work drama
A Surprisingly Subdued Nevin Loses Courage under Fire Jason Blake , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 12 June 2015; (p. 20)

— Review of Mother Courage & Her Children Wesley Enoch (translator), Paula Nazarski (translator), 2013 single work drama
A Mother's War, and a Triumph for Nevin John McCallum , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian , 12 June 2015; (p. 16)

— Review of Mother Courage & Her Children Wesley Enoch (translator), Paula Nazarski (translator), 2013 single work drama
A Slice of Alice Springs Eleanor Hogan , 2013 single work review
— Appears in: Inside Story , February 2013;

— Review of Mother Courage & Her Children Wesley Enoch (translator), Paula Nazarski (translator), 2013 single work drama

'Eleanor Hogan reviews Warwick Thornton’s film installation, Mother Courage'

Intense Colour Bridget Cormack , 2013 single work column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 18-19 May 2013; (p. 5-6)
Black to Front Susan Johnson , 2013 single work column
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 25-26 May 2013; (p. 12-16)
' Across the cultural spectrum, a new wave of indigenous artists is finding mainstream success.'
Hooked on Classics Rosemary Neill , 2013 single work column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 25-26 May 2013; (p. 5-7)
'Adaptations dominate Australian theatre. Is this a sign of the bankruptcy of original ideas or does it herald a confident fresh approach to great works of drama?'
Mother Courage as Relevant to our Lives as Brecht's Germany 2013 single work review
— Appears in: National Indigenous Times , 22 May vol. 12 no. 312 2013; (p. 25)
Turn of the Page Phil Brown , 2013 single work interview
— Appears in: Brisbane News , 5-11 June no. 934 2013; (p. 14)
Last amended 31 Aug 2016 08:10:56
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