Written in 1941, first performed in Zurich, Mother Courage by Bertholdt Brecht is set amid the decades of the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) which decimated central Europe as countries, leaders, and peoples slaughtered each other over intolerance (no wonder the Pilgrims fled!) between Catholics and Protestants (as well as between kingdoms, states, and injustices).
In the midst of that unending cataclysm, Mother Courage earns her keep, and her life, selling wares and sundries (bullets?) from her wagon to troops - any troops. All the while, she connives to keep her three grown children from the fighting.
The play is a conversation in deception, loyalties, chaos, morality, and absurdity as we examine the meaning of courage within unforgiving war.
It is a night's read with straight forward language, memorable imagery, and an enduring theme.
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