Opera
Ballet & Dance
Drama

Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder

Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder
- A chronicle of the Thirty Year's War

PLAYHOUSE

FY2005(60th) National Arts Festival,
sponsored by the Agency for Cultural Affairs


STAFF
Written by : Bertolt Brecht
Translated by : Tanigawa Michiko
Directed by : Kuriyama Tamiya
     
Music by : Paul Dessau
Set Designer : Matsui Rumi
Lighting Designer : Katsuhiba Jiro
Costume Designer : Wada Emi
Music Director : Kume Daisaku
Sound Designer : Yamamoto Koichi
Singing Coaches : Ogawa Miyako
Action : Atsumi Hiroshi
Assistant Director : Oe Sachihiko
Stage Director : Masuda Hiroyuki
     
Produced by : The Agency for Cultural Affairs / New National Theatre, Tokyo
Joint production with the Hyogo Prefecture Arts & Culture Association

CAST
Otake Shionobu / Fukui Kiichi / Akiyama Natsuko / Yamazaki Hajime / Nakajima Shu
Umezawa Masayo / Takao Taka / Oki Junichiro / Nakamura Miki / Awano Fumihiro
Nagayama Takashi / Kaneko Yoshiyuki / Okamori Akira / Yasumura Yamato
Fukui Hiroaki / Kawakita Ryosuke / Torihata Hiroto / Suzuki Kensuke
Yokoyama Takashi / Kishizuchi Ryushi / Iijima Keisuke / Ito Sou / Sakemoto Akira

PERFORMANCES
November /
December
2005
11/28 29 30 12/1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
1:00     X X   X X X X X   X X
6:30 X X     X         X X    
Doors will open 45 minutes before the opening of the performance.

ADVANCE TICKETS
  Available from Sunday 23 October, 2005 at 10:00am.
To order tickets, please call +81-3-5352-9999 (10:00am-6:00pm).
Internet ticket reservation available through the following Websites.(Japanese only)
http://pia.jp/t
http://eee.eplus.co.jp/

TICKET PRICES (with tax)
  S A B
Price(yen) 7,350 5,250 3,150
*Seat Z(¥1,500): Sold at the NNTT Box Office and some Ticket Pia outlets on the performance date. One ticket per person. No phone reservations. *Same day student tickets (50% off, except Seat Z ): Sold at the NNTT Box Office and some Ticket Pia outlets on the performance date. One ticket per person. No phone reservations. Students must bring a valid student ID.

The heroic life of a woman who survived the war but lost everything
This antiwar play written powerfully by the great playwright Brecht while in exile will be presented at the NNTT!

handbill [Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder]
       Bertolt Brecht was one of the 20th century's greatest playwrights, who adopted many kinds of experimental dramaturgy to present theatrical innovations energetically. The NNTT will present Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder (Mother Courage and Her Children), one of the most important of his many works, together with The Three-penny Opera. Brecht's continuously engaged in theatrical activities critical of the Nazis and was forced to flee his country. He wrote this play in 1939, while living in Sweden. This is an antiwar play that emphasizes the futility of war from the perspective of a mother who lives strong-mindedly with her children.
       The director is Kuriyama Tamiya, Artistic Director for the Drama Division at the NNTT, who has directed many high-profile works, including Morning Becomes Electra, performed at the NNTT in November 2004, which won the Asahi Performing Arts Grand Prize. He has enjoyed reading Brecht's plays since his student days and will take on the challenge of directing his work after thorough preparation. The heroine Anna will be played by Otake Shinobu, whose convincing performance in Morning Becomes Electra was the driving force behind the award of the Grand Prize. This is the second Brecht play she will take on, after her appearance in The Good Woman of Setzuan in 1996. One of the pleasures in watching a live performance is listening to the original music inserted effectively into the drama.
       Look forward to a 21st-century production of Brecht's play Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder (Mother Courage and Her Children), which the NNTT will present by assembling capable actors and actresses well known for their outstanding acting ability in musicals, as well as little-theatre and shingeki drama.

Synopsis

In the 17th century, Germany was at the height of the Thirty Years' War, the last religious war that involved European powers.  Anna, "Mother Courage," who was known to lead a vigorous life even during the war, and her three children, travel from battlefield to battlefield, selling goods in their covered wagon. One day, her eldest son enlists as a soldier and leaves her.   He is praised as brave during the war, but is executed for the crime of plunder. Furthermore, her second son, who worked for the military unit as an accountant, is taken captive together with a regiment, and brought before a military tribunal. She tries to bribe the judge, but not in time for his execution by a firing squad. As the war spreads to wider areas, she moves from one place to another with her wagon. Her business prospers temporarily, but peace suddenly arrives, preventing her from continuing her business. As war breaks out again, she wanders from one battlefield to another together with her daughter, her only child who has survived the war, but her daughter eventually dies a sad death. Mother Courage, who does not know that her eldest son was executed and believes him to be still alive, silently trudges alone to a new battlefield pulling her wagon behind her.

Otake Shionobu Fukui Kiichi Akiyama Natsuko Yamazaki Hajime Nakajima Shu Umezawa Masayo
Otake
Shionobu
Fukui
Kiichi
Akiyama
Natsuko
Yamazaki
Hajime
Nakajima
Shu
Umezawa
Masayo

Takao Taka Oki Junichiro Nakamura Miki Awano Fumihiro Nagayama Takashi Kaneko Yoshiyuki
Takao
Taka
Oki
Junichiro
Nakamura
Miki
Awano
Fumihiro
Nagayama
Takashi
Kaneko
Yoshiyuki

Okamori Akira Yasumura Yamato Fukui Hiroaki Kawakita Ryosuke Torihata Hiroto Suzuki Kensuke
Okamori
Akira
Yasumura
Yamato
Fukui
Hiroaki
Kawakita
Ryosuke
Torihata
Hiroto
Suzuki
Kensuke

Yokoyama Takashi Kishizuchi Ryushi Iijima Keisuke Ito Sou Sakemoto Akira
Yokoyama
Takashi
Kishizuchi
Ryushi
Iijima
Keisuke
Ito
Sou
Sakemoto
Akira


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