‘Tis the season to be acting! For this school year’s fall theatrical production, Hewitt’s drama department is proud to present Bertolt Brecht’s profound Mother Courage and Her Children, which chronicles the journey of a woman, a wagon, and the willpower needed to succeed during the Thirty Years’ War. I got a chance to sit down with Mr. Denver, director of this massive but worthwhile undertaking. He is also playing the role of composer, rewriting the musical score specifically for this production. Be sure to visit the Mother Courage and Her Children blog, where Mr. Denver has already written about some of his background work on the richness of Brecht’s “incredible masterpiece.” But first, check out the interview below to learn more about his impressions of the play and the interesting challenges that it poses to Hewitt actresses.

Ahmerie: What attracted you to Mother Courage?

Well, I was looking around at all the plays on the shelf, trolling the internet, finding out what plays people thought were done successfully in high schools, and I was reminded of Mother Courage – I saw it on a couple of the lists. I went back and took a look at it; I haven’t read it since college. I was just struck by how perfect it was for this group, and the sense of mission it had. It really fit the people we have here, and also addressed a sort of social need for drama that I think this particular group of students has. The play is so concerned with the real world right now that I think it has a greater resonance and depth for this particular group of actors.

Ahmerie: What summer work did you complete in preparation for the play? Did you watch any documentaries or seek out any other pertinent sources?

Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s Dulle Griet, or Mad Meg. Considered the modern Mad Meg, Mother Courage continues to do business in the midst of a hellish war. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Well there’s not much on film that’s readily available. There is one documentary about a 2006 production with Meryl Streep at the Public Theatre that the cast got to watch. There’s a volume of Brecht writings about theater called Brecht on Theater, a bunch of essays about his time from his late teens, early twenties all the way to his death.

Another source I used is called the Brecht Sourcebook, a book of other essays mostly by other people about everything from epic theater to traditions of Brecht being performed in different countries. And then I spent a lot of time finishing the score, listening to music with an ear to this production, searching for the style that would best fit. I was listening to a lot of Paul Hindemith and some Eastern European composers just to get my ears into a different place.

Ahmerie: What do you hope the cast will achieve by performing this play in front of the Hewitt audience?

This play is a little different from many other plays that we do in that it’s almost overtly trying to save the world – it’s a dramatic way of putting it, but it’s essentially true. Brecht wanted societal change, and he wanted the audience to think about that actively; he wants to break the catharsis so that the audience is thinking about what they watch–he doesn’t want you to get swept up. So our job, which is a tricky one for a high school production done after school for only a few hours every week, is to find that balance of something that is deeply emotionally resonant but also important and thought-provoking on an intellectual level. That’s a hard task.

Ahmerie: And finally, what about Mother Courage are you most excited for?

I’m most excited to be back and working with students again – I’ve always felt like it’s a real honor to work with young actors delving into a play because it’s really delving into every aspect of the world, from the psyche, to politics, war, death love,  God–pretty much everything. It’s all wrapped up in doing theater, and theater is wrapped up in looking at things. I find that young adults are really eager to delve into these ideas.

Hewitt actresses are excited for rehearsal! Left to right: Pauline Cronin ’13, Taylor Scanlan ’15, Jocelyn Goldberg ’13

I’m also interested in finding out what makes things tick and how the cast can best achieve that, so for me it’s going to be two months of constant exploration, which is a real pleasure because it’s getting 15 people in a room and saying, “What can we make?” And making art with friends is one of the greatest joys that we can have.


A hearty thank you to Mr. Denver for providing us with some introductory insight into what’s sure to be an amazing Hewitt production!

Make sure to save the date – November 1st and 2nd!

 

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