MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN is a biting satirical play about survival, entrepreneurship and the absurdity of war. Filled with songs, marches, and drums, Mother Courage’s caravan navigates the minefields of both the battlefield and bureaucracy, to create a tale of hope and resilience of an everyday kind.
Brecht wrote the play in 1939 and set it over the course of 12 years (1624 to 1636) that are represented in 12 scenes. The play’s protagonist is a woman, who will do anything to survive the challenges of a war, emotional and personal loss while making business and trade manoeuvres to endure them all. Director Quasar Thakore Padamsee sets it in the Indian context without limiting it to socio-political shades, without setting time restrictions to its narrative and without taking away its universal appeal.