Mother courage and her children Essays

Mother courage and her children Essays Mother courage and her children Paper Mother courage and her children Paper Even more than most of Bertolt Brecht’s plays, â€Å"Mother Courage and Her Children† has irony at its centre. Its central events are heartrending: a mother loses all three of her children, and her own chances for a decent life, in violent and even sadistic ways, and continues staggering onward, surviving by her wits and her sheer will. And yet, Brecht wanted his plays to be performed in such a way that the audience would not be seduced into caring for or identifying with the characters. He wrote them so that in their very structure, they would continually remind the audience that they were just actors and that the integral part of the production is not the story, but the meaning behind it. With their rush of disconnected scenes, often framed by explicit narration, cynical violence, cruelty and suffering, Brecht’s plays tend to be the sort of challenge that any director relishes. In the essay, I should like to attempt to convey how I would prepare and direct actors for the last two scenes of â€Å"Mother Courage†. It is often understood that Brecht did not want his actors to embody and express emotions in the way that, for instance, Stanislavski would have typically ask them to. He preferred us to understand the complex realism behind a line like â€Å"Whenever there are great virtues, its a sign somethings wrong. † This poses choices: when Mother Courage has to cradle her dead daughter in her lap, she can either express her agony or she can bear it with stoicism and perhaps humour. I would choose the latter, because from a Brechtian point of view, rather than Mother Courage being an audacious character who earns the audience’s respect, it would portray that she cares more about her business and exploitation of war than her own children surely not an appropriate mindset of a mother. To prepare my actors for this challenge, I would make sure that they had all considered their â€Å"GEST†. This means that they should be prepared to express their characters’ emotion and social attitudes in a clear, stylised way. They should do this by practicing things such as their body language and their gestures. I would want my actors to demonstrate their character rather than trying to make them naturalistic. To do this, they should act as witnesses to the story rather than participants. I would tell my actors to exaggerate their parts so that if someone took a photograph at any time during the scenes, they would be able to tell what the message is that should be coming across. During these last two scenes, I would want the stage crew to be seen on stage occasionally punctuating the action with various percussion instruments, chorally announcing scenes or what is about to happen (and dying as they do so to set the scene as the aftermath of war). I think that this would attempt to break the illusion of a â€Å"fourth wall†. This means that straight away, the audience would be reminded that it is just a play, and they are just actors. I would make sure that the Lieutenant’s character is played robotically. The actor should do this by mindlessly marching onto the stage and speaking in a very monotone voice throughout, even when there is true action going on around him. I believe that this would convey that the Lieutenant has been robbed of his passion and soul because of war. He is no longer a real person just a clone, a pawn in a play about the corrupt effects of war. The three soldiers that are following him should drunkenly stagger onto the stage, pushing each other over and laughing with one another. They should now and again mimic the Lieutenant’s walk and act sarcastically towards him. This idea is to portray that the soldiers have no respect for their superiors. When the soldiers knock at the farmhouse door and the old peasant woman enters the stage, one of the soldiers should clap his hand over her mouth so to stop her screaming. The remaining soldiers should jeer at the sight of the feeble woman squirming with fear. A soldier should then throw the old peasant and his son onto the stage with aggression. A spotlight should appear at Kattrin crouching in the wagon, and as the Lieutenant says, â€Å"There’s one,† a soldier should pull her out and push her onto the stage floor. The peasants should alternate their lines with panicked expressions eyebrows raised, arms flailing, and they should speak very quickly so to convey their alarm at the goings on. This should make it very obvious to the audience what is happening and the messages behind the plot. As the frightened young peasant blurts the fact that he â€Å"don’t know any path†, the soldiers should mock him, repeating what he says in high pitched voices and mimicking his pained expression and as the second soldier bargains with the young boy, it should be evident to the audience that the actors are joking with him cruelly by the fact that the soldiers are grinning to one another. The levels in this scene, with the boy lower down and the soldiers walking around confidently with their shoulders pushed back and their wide strides should illustrate the status between the poor innocent child and the corrupt â€Å"heroes of war†. The Lieutenant and the three soldiers should continue acting their parts in arrogant, stylised ways, whilst the peasants try to bargain and finally give in. When the soldiers leave the stage, led by the terrified young peasant, the three remaining peasants should try to justify the fact that they are not helping the rest of the village. I think that to make this evident to the audience, the actors should say their lines very calmly and thoughtfully: â€Å"There’s nothing we can do, is there? † // â€Å"Nothing. † // â€Å"No, there’s nothing we can do. † The peasant woman should then force the others to kneel and pray. She should say the prayer hurriedly and stutter now and again, so to get the slight guilt that she may have out of the way. I think that this would reveal to the audience that the characters had a choice whether to help the others in the village or to keep themselves safe. They choose the latter, the more selfish choice, and it should be evident that even these supposedly innocent characters in the play, are corrupt. Kattrin should groan regularly in frustration and finally, as she creeps off to the wagon, climbs up the ladder onto the roof and starts beating the drum with such extreme determination, the peasants should abruptly stop praying and run into action. As the characters have talked themselves into thinking that they are doing the right thing, their reaction is even more frantic than before. Even this scene should be missing the kind of frantic, air-raid-siren intensity that it potentially holds, as Kattrin continues to beat the drum while the soldiers, themselves now panicked, try to stop her, to keep her from waking the village. Kattrin’s role should seem more stolid and deliberate than desperate and driven by adrenaline. This should really be the only part in the whole play where I would like the audience to feel something more than morality being thrown at them. I would like them to feel for Kattrin, whether it is frustration or admiration. The soldiers should seem to have all the time in the world to shoot her from her perch, just too late to prevent her from raising the alarm. They should be even more aggressive now, shouting at the dumb girl as she carries on drumming. I would ask the stage crew, still sitting on stage, to join in with drumming steady beat, so to again remind the audience that although this scene is full of passion, that is all it is, a scene in a play. As the soldiers start to chop wood manically, Kattrin becomes more and more upset, the actor showing this with tears in her eyes and peering around aimlessly, she carries on the steady drumming. To make it obvious that the girl is listening to the Lieutenant and his soldiers plotting something, she should put her hand to her ear and strain her expression. When she realizes that her drumming has worked, the actor should stop the beat, smile, continue drumming again and laugh manically. The actors playing the soldiers should be outraged at this, making it obvious that the roles in status have evidently been reversed. The scene should go on with quick pace, with the young peasant hitting the wagon with a board, the peasant woman screaming at Kattrin and her crying and distressed noises and expressions. Finally, the soldiers fire their guns and after a few more feeble beats, Kattrin should collapse, dead. Muffled noises of canons, gunfire and alarm bells should be heard so to remind the audience of the aftermath of war. The next morning, Mother Courage sits by the dead body of her daughter, ignoring the peasants words, denying the fact that Kattrin is dead: â€Å"Maybe she’s fallen asleep† and singing to her. As she is singing, I would like the actor to pick Kattrin up and cradle her in her arms, stroking her hair. When the fact that Kattrin is dead finally dawns on Mother Courage: â€Å"She’s not asleep†¦ she’s gone, you must get away†, with no hesitation, she should drop her dead daughter back onto the floor and cover her up with a cloth. She should speak to the peasants as though Kattrin was useless and swiftly pay the peasants for the â€Å"proper burial† without a second though. As Mother Courage harnesses herself back into her wagon, I would like for the audience to hear background noise depicting war. She glares back at her dead daughter as she complains to herself: â€Å"I hope I can pull the wagon by myself†, and with just one look back, the actor should run after a regiment screaming â€Å"Hey! Take me with you! † To end the play, the audience should hear the soldiers singing monotonously: â€Å"Dangers, surprises, devastations / The war takes hold and will not quit. / But though it lasts three generations / We shall get nothing out of it. / Starvation, filth, and cold enslave us. / The army robs us of our pay, / Only a miracle can save us / And miracles have had their day. / Christians, awake! The winter’s gone! / The snows depart. The dead sleep on. / And though you may not long survive / Get out of bed and look alive! †.

The Glass Menagerie, a Play by Tennessee Williams

The Glass Menagerie, a Play by Tennessee Williams The Glass Menagerie  play is a melancholy family drama written by Tennessee Williams. It was first performed on Broadway in 1945, meeting with astounding box-office success and a Drama Critics Circle Award. The Characters In the introduction of The Glass Menagerie, the playwright describes the personalities of the drama’s main characters. Amanda Wingfield: Mother of two adult children, Tom and Laura. â€Å"A little woman of great vitality clinging frantically to another time and place...†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Her life is paranoia†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬Å"Her foolishness makes her unwittingly cruel†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬Å"There is tenderness in her slight person†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Laura Wingfield: Six years out of high school. Incredibly shy and introverted. She fixates on her collection of glass figurines. She has â€Å"failed to establish contact with reality†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬Å"A childhood illness has left her crippled, one leg slightly shorter than the other†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬Å"She is like a piece of her own glass collection, too exquisitely fragile†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Tom Wingfield: The poetic, frustrated son who works at a mindless warehouse job, supporting his family after his father left home for good. He also serves as the play’s narrator. â€Å"His nature is not remorseless†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬Å"To escape from a trap (his overbearing mother and crippled sister) he has to act without pity.† Jim O’Connor: The gentleman caller who has dinner with the Wingfields during the second part of the play. He is described as a â€Å"nice, ordinary young man.† Setting The entire play takes place in the Wingfield’s meager apartment, located next to an alley in St. Louis. When Tom begins narrating he draws the audience back to the 1930s. Plot Summary Mrs. Wingfield’s husband abandoned the family â€Å"a long time ago.† He sent a postcard from Mazatlan, Mexico that simply read: â€Å"Hello – and Good-bye!† With the absence of the father, their home has become emotionally and financially stagnant. Amanda clearly loves her children. However, she constantly reprimands her son about his personality, his fledgling job, and even his eating habits. Tom: I haven’t enjoyed one bite of this dinner because of your constant directions on how to eat it. It’s you that makes me rush through meals with your hawk-like attention to every bite I take. Even though Tom’s sister is painfully shy, Amanda expects Laura to be more outgoing. The mother, in contrast, is very sociable and reminisces about her days as a southern belle who once received seventeen gentlemen callers in a single day. Laura has no hopes or ambitions for her future. She quit her typing class because she was too shy to take the speed exam. Laura’s only apparent interest seems to be her old music records and her â€Å"glass menagerie,† a collection of animal figurines. Meanwhile, Tom is itching to leave the household and seek adventure in the wide-open world, instead of being held prisoner by his dependent family and a dead-end job. He often stays out late at night, claiming to go to the movies. (Whether or not he watches the movies or engages in some sort of covert activity is debatable). Amanda wants Tom to find a suitor for Laura. Tom scoffs at the idea at first, but by evening he informs his mother that a gentleman caller will be visiting the following night. Jim O’Connor, the potential suitor, went to high school with both Tom and Laura. During that time, Laura had a crush on the handsome young man. Before Jim visits, Amanda dresses in a beautiful gown, reminding herself of her once-glorious youth. When Jim arrives, Laura is petrified to see him again. She can barely answer the door. When she finally does, Jim shows no trace of remembrance. Out on the fire escape, Jim and Tom discuss their futures. Jim is taking a course on public speaking to become an executive. Tom reveals that he will soon be joining the merchant marines, thereby abandoning his mother and sister. In fact, he purposefully failed to pay the electricity bill in order to join the seaman’s union. During dinner, Laura – faint with shyness and anxiety – spends most of the time on the sofa, away from the others. Amanda, however, is having a wonderful time. The lights suddenly go out, but Tom never confesses the reason! By candlelight, Jim gently approaches the timid Laura. Gradually, she begins to open up to him. He is delighted to learn that they went to school together. He even remembers the nickname he gave to her: â€Å"Blue Roses.† Jim: Now I remember – you always came in late. Laura: Yes, it was so hard for me, getting upstairs. I had that brace on my leg – it clumped so loud! Jim: I never heard any clumping. Laura (wincing at the recollection): To me it sounded like thunder! Jim: Well, well, well. I never even noticed. Jim encourages her to be more self-confident. He even dances with her. Unfortunately, he bumps a table, knocking over a glass unicorn figurine. The horn breaks, making the figurine just like the rest of the horses. Surprisingly, Laura is able to laugh about the situation. She clearly likes Jim. Finally, he declares: Somebody needs to build your confidence up and make you proud instead of shy and turning away and- blushing- Somebody ought to- ought to- kiss you, Laura! They kiss. For a moment, the audience might be lured into thinking that everything will work out happily. For a moment, we can imagine: Jim and Laura falling in love.Amanda’s dreams for Laura’s security coming true.Tom finally escaping the â€Å"trap† of family obligations. Yet, a moment after the kiss, Jim backs away and decides, â€Å"I shouldn’t have done that.† He then reveals that he is engaged to a nice girl named Betty. When he explains that he will not be back to visit again, Laura bravely smiles. She offers him the broken figurine as a souvenir. After Jim leaves, Amanda scolds her son for bringing an already-spoken-for gentleman caller. As they fight, Tom exclaims: Tom: The more you shout about my selfishness to me the quicker I’ll go, and I won’t go to the movies! Then, Tom assumes the role of the narrator as he did in the play’s beginning. He explains to the audience how he soon left his family behind, running away just as his father did. He spent years traveling abroad, yet something still haunted him. He escaped the Wingfield household, but his dear sister Laura was always on his mind. The Final Lines Oh, Laura, Laura, I tried to leave you behind me, but I am more faithful than I intended to be! I reach for a cigarette, I cross the street, I run into the movies or a bar, I buy a drink, I speak to the nearest stranger- anything that can blow your candles out! For nowadays the world is lit by lightning! Blow out your candles, Laura – and so good-bye†¦