GO ON, GO ON TO SEE A CLASSIC
Father Ted star takes on Brecht’s Mother Courage
LEEDS THEATRE company Red Ladder are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year – and what better way to mark a half century of radical theatre making than to stage a revival of a play by one of the most radical playwrights of the modern era?
Their immersive promenade production of Bertolt Brecht’s Mother
Courage and Her Children, directed by artistic director Rod Dixon, opened last Friday for a three-week run at the Albion Electric Warehouse and it is the first time in the history of the company, who are known for their commitment to new writing, that they have staged a classic play.
It is an excellent choice – and it’s certainly not lacking in contemporary resonance.
Brecht wrote the play in 1939; one of nine written as an act of creative resistance to the rise of fascism and Nazism. It is widely considered to be one of the most powerful anti-war plays of all time and some would argue it is the greatest play of the 20th century.
Brecht is said to have written it very quickly – it took him around four weeks – specifically in response to the German invasion of Poland. He chose to set the play not in modern times but in the 17th century during the Thirty Years War of 1618-1648 which involved all the European states.
That ensured the play had a timeless allegorical feel – and it has been revived many times in the nearly 80 years since it was first produced – but given the ongoing global refugee crisis and what is happening in Europe right now, this feels like an extremely timely production.
The action of the play takes place over the course of 12 years – from 1624 to 1636 – during which time Anna Fierling, nicknamed Mother Courage, a resourceful canteen woman with the Swedish army, manages to navigate the shifting allegiances that are decimating the European continent, hauling her wagon through battlefields and ransacked villages, determined to make a living from the war.
It’s a great part in a great play and the wonderful Irish actor Pauline McLynn, probably best known for her awardwinning role as Mrs Doyle in the hit TV comedy series Father Ted, is delighted to be taking it on.
“I am so lucky that I’m getting the chance to do this,” she says when we meet early on during the rehearsal period. “One of the reasons I’m here is because I’m a huge admirer of Red Ladder; I love their ethos and their work.
“Some years ago Rod Dixon came to a show I was in at the Globe Theatre in London and we just got talking afterwards and from then on he had it in his mind that on the 50th birthday of the company he was going to do something different. “He really wanted to do Mother
Courage as he has directed it before. He said he did a very long and boring version before but we are using the great Lee Hall translation. It is really funny and raucous and in a way quite irreverent to Brecht. I think that people can sometimes approach the classics with too much reverence.”
That’s not something that Red Ladder could be accused of – their work is always innovative and playful; and they are never afraid of ruffling a few feathers.
“I think the audience will certainly be talking about it afterwards,” says McLynn. “It will both unsettle and delight people; I can guarantee you won’t feel nothing. And there is something magical about the warehouse it is being staged in – it is just like being in part of a war-torn city.”
Mother Courage is a complex character to play because although her tenacity and will to survive is admirable, she is in effect a war profiteer and her morality is, at times, questionable. Brecht deliberately does not present her as noble and while she fights on behalf of her children, she is not particularly maternal.
“I don’t think she would be very huggy and touchy-feely as a mother,” says McLynn. “In fact, you could argue that she is something of a monster, but Brecht does present her case. She is a survivor and that takes a certain charm and a cut-throat edge.
“How else are you going to get through a war? Her children all have their virtues but they are in danger as a result – one of them is kind and one of them is brave and she has another son who is very honest and that is going to get him into trouble. She does her best for them but it is tough love. She has to be adaptable and she is of the opinion that victory or defeat doesn’t mean anything to the ordinary person, you are still just trying to sell a few slices of bread.”
Brecht has a special place in McLynn’s past. After leaving Trinity University in Dublin, where she studied literature and history of art, in 1983 she tells me that she “sort of fell into acting – it was hard times in Ireland, there was a recession and no work”.
She joined a left-wing theatre company called Rough Magic and one of the early productions she was involved in was The Caucasian Chalk Circle.
“That was my introduction to Brecht. I feel like I am returning to what I know best – I started acting in the theatre and I really love it. Rod has put together a fabulous cast of actors and musicians.
“They are all just so enthusiastic and generous and supportive. It is a nice tribe to be part of. I think that is one of the great skills of a good director – to put together a set of people who all get on and all have something to bring to the party.”
When I tentatively broach the subject of Father Ted – you can’t not, it is, after all, one of the most successful and enduring comedies of the past 20 years – she smiles and says that she never minds talking about it.
“It was a pretty fantastic experience – I have never seen such a perfect set of scripts in my life. I’m just so proud of it and the fact that it is standing the test of time. It was very funny – I still laugh when I watch it now – and the writing was really very good.”
McLynn was only in her thirties when the just 25 episodes were filmed in the late 1990s but her portrayal of the middle-aged housekeeper endlessly pressing cups of tea and sandwiches on a trio of oddball priests on Craggy Island is a classic comic creation. And Mrs Doyle’s catchphrase lives on; and on – fans will frequently call out to her in the street, but McLynn accepts it all with grace and good humour.
“People can’t help themselves when they see me, although there hasn’t been too much shouting of ‘go on’ here in Leeds, as yet,” she laughs.
“I never read reviews, and I would only ever believe the bad things written anyway, but we have money on it that someone will mention it in a review of Mother Courage.” Note to self: must remember not to do that.
I can guarantee you won’t feel nothing. And there is something magical about the warehouse it is being staged in – it is just like being in part of a war-torn city. Pauline McLynn on Mother Courage and Her Children which is being performed in Leeds.
■ Mother Courage and Her Childen is at the Albion Electric Warehouse in Leeds to October 20. Tickets via www.redladder.co.uk or Leeds Playhouse box office on 0113 213 7700.