Presentation Type
Presentation
Faculty Mentor’s Full Name
Pamyla Stiehl
Faculty Mentor’s Department
Theatre and Dance
Abstract / Artist's Statement
This spring, for the first time since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic, theatre students at the University of Montana were challenged with the unique opportunity to produce a full scale filmed production to stream to audiences everywhere. With the help of the new COVID regulations and an enormous amount of luck, the director, actors, and crew were able to rehearse in the same space to create the spectacle that is Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and her Children. Taking place in the Thirty Years War, Anna Fierling, known to most as Mother Courage, pulls her wagon of wares behind Swedish soldiers with her three children as they make their way through war-torn Europe. From start to finish, the play explores themes of war, capitalism, and the lengths one reaches for a profit.
Approaching the challenge of playing Mother Courage, I followed Brecht’s techniques to create a performance that covered all of the character’s complexities. Over several decades, Brecht developed his own style of acting known as epic theatre- plays with an episodic plot, unlike the linear storylines we commonly see in media. Brecht was known for making Marxist theatre with clear politically charged messages. This was useful for the cast to navigate masked performances; they became a metaphor for the muzzles that people wear as they suffer under capitalism and corrupt government. He encouraged his actors to practice verfremdung (“alienation”) to distance themselves from their characters. This was also present in the music in each scene- the songs deviate from the style of the play which encourages the audience to engage more critically with the material. It wasn’t easy finding new ways to make theatre in times of unease, but by using Brecht’s ideologies, we created a production that was cohesive, political, and safe.
Category
Visual and Performing Arts (including Creative Writing)
Mother Courage & her Children- Defining a New Era of Art in the Age of Coronavirus
This spring, for the first time since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic, theatre students at the University of Montana were challenged with the unique opportunity to produce a full scale filmed production to stream to audiences everywhere. With the help of the new COVID regulations and an enormous amount of luck, the director, actors, and crew were able to rehearse in the same space to create the spectacle that is Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and her Children. Taking place in the Thirty Years War, Anna Fierling, known to most as Mother Courage, pulls her wagon of wares behind Swedish soldiers with her three children as they make their way through war-torn Europe. From start to finish, the play explores themes of war, capitalism, and the lengths one reaches for a profit.
Approaching the challenge of playing Mother Courage, I followed Brecht’s techniques to create a performance that covered all of the character’s complexities. Over several decades, Brecht developed his own style of acting known as epic theatre- plays with an episodic plot, unlike the linear storylines we commonly see in media. Brecht was known for making Marxist theatre with clear politically charged messages. This was useful for the cast to navigate masked performances; they became a metaphor for the muzzles that people wear as they suffer under capitalism and corrupt government. He encouraged his actors to practice verfremdung (“alienation”) to distance themselves from their characters. This was also present in the music in each scene- the songs deviate from the style of the play which encourages the audience to engage more critically with the material. It wasn’t easy finding new ways to make theatre in times of unease, but by using Brecht’s ideologies, we created a production that was cohesive, political, and safe.