The National Theatre | Mother Courage

A woman nicknamed Mother Courage puts everything on the line in wartime to survive with her children. We follow her heartbreaking journey amidst chaos and conflict. With Mother Courage, the National Theatre presents a raw, contemporary, but also loving musical theater performance.

Europe in the near future, the continent is embroiled in a protracted war. Mother Courage (Tamar van den Dop) goes after the troops with her three young adult children. It is her best chance to survive and so she sells the soldiers everything needed for battle; boots, beer, food and weapons. Full of fire, Mother Courage tries to keep her family together in a world torn apart by war. At any cost.

Director Liesbeth Coltof

Liesbeth Coltof creates a modern version of Bertolt Brecht's classic: "I have met them: the Courages of this world. Women trying to raise their children in the hell of war or occupation. Mothers in the poor neighborhoods of Cleveland (USA), Sao Paulo or Ter Apel for whom life is a war situation every day. They are not kind women, kindness is reserved for those who live in peace and wealth. But they never give up, right through the stress and grief they keep standing. Beneath their hard shell and right through the injustice, they preserve their humanity with a courage we find it hard to imagine. In this performance, I hope to give them their rightful place.