Mother Courage and Her Children

Miniseries

Miniseries

An innovative new two-part radio production of Brecht's timeless anti-war play with songs. A narrator observes from present day Ukraine, and unconventional techniques mirror Brecht's alienation effect. Recorded in London and Kyiv, with a mixed cast, Mother Courage and her three adult children pull her cart through a land ravaged by the Thirty Years War (1618-48), loaded with supplies for sale to whoever will buy them. They follow armies across Germany and Sweden for over two decades, trading with soldiers, and turning a profit, selling anything armies desire or require; morals don't enter into it. The more desperate they are, the more she charges them. Nothing comes before making a profit, not even her three children. Many consider Mother Courage to be the greatest anti-war play ever and one of the 20th century's greatest plays. Bertolt Brecht's classic drama with songs (last produced on BBC radio in 1990), is now all the more pertinent and relevant, with war returning to Europe.