Mother Courage and Her Children by Bertolt Brecht is undoubtedly one of his many plays, if not the most famous. The original depicts the struggles of Mother Courage as she follows the soldiers with her battered cart, set during Europe's Thirty Years' War in the 17th century, and how she intends to make a living from this chaos, regardless of be the consequences. Jordan's modernized adaptation of this famous play, performed at the Royal Exchange Theater in Manchester, however, is set in the dystopian future of 2080. In this interpretation, the war is fought between the Blue and Red armies, and Mother Courage follows the soldiers across what was once Europe with his battered ice cream cart and three children. Having seen the Saturday night performance from the second tier, I think it would be appropriate to hail this play as a success, even though it may have missed the mark as a political stance as opposed to a play whose overall message is to reap what we sow. no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay What initially attracted me to this successful reimagining of Brecht's classic was the scene design, or lack thereof. Of course, knowledge of Brechtian theater tells us why this was done, but the use of a 360o stage really highlighted an ever-present presence on the actors and how they had more space to interact with the audience . The space on stage meant that the audience was more able to participate in what was being said rather than being distracted by how the actors became their characters. For example, Julie Hesmondhalgh was a truly astonishing Mother Courage, but her colorful language and inappropriate jokes certainly meant that the audience was kept more in the reality of what they were watching rather than being carried away by the play. As a chronicle piece, a subtle touch that certainly did not go unnoticed was the eleven stage names seemingly hastily scrawled in black paint on cardboard cutouts suspended above the stage. The apocalyptic and desperate style remained true to the original, and for each new scene, these overhead titles fell as an additional prompt to the audience about what was going to happen. These subtle set designs by Joanna Scotcher really took the play to a more imaginative place, and while this was certainly a positive for the set designers, it perhaps missed what Brecht was going for with this play. There have been dozens of stagings and adaptations of Mother Courage, and in all of them it is always evident that capitalism is the downfall of humanity. Chillingly, when Mother Courage realizes that her three children are dead, she doesn't even particularly cry - her last words are "as usual" in this adaptation, as she saddles up on her truck. ice cream and struggles to pull it out. off stage, lit by a single flame in a metal drum. It really seems to hit home how blind Mother Courage seems throughout this play, driven by greed and living in misery, but it's that final scene, followed by a slow song of children singing "In the Saddle and carry on,” which we really realize is honestly lost in the world of capitalism and consumerism. The glaring lack of light other than the small flame also seems to symbolize how empty his life has become – from three children, the chaplain and the chief, to no one and essentially nothing. It almost seems like Jordan wants us to be careful what we.