Mother Courage and Her Children by Bertolt Brecht is undoubtedly one of his many plays, if not the most famous. The original portrays Mother Courage's struggles as she follows soldiers in her battered wagon, set during the Thirty Years' War of seventeenth-century Europe, and how she plans to make a living out of this chaos regardless of 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, war takes place 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 Saturday night's show from the second level seats, I think it would be appropriate to hail this show as a success, even if it perhaps missed the mark as a political stance rather than a show with the overall message of taking what we have sown. no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay What initially drew me to this blockbuster retelling of Brecht's classic was the set design, or lack thereof. Of course, knowledge of Brechtian theater tells us why this was done, but the use of a 360° stage really highlighted an omnipresent presence in the actors and how they had more space to actually interact with the audience. The space on stage meant that the audience was able to participate more successfully in what was being said rather than being distracted by how the actors became their characters. For example, Julie Hesmondhalgh was a truly amazing Mother Courage, but her colorful language and inappropriate jokes definitely kept the audience more in the reality of what they were watching rather than being swept away by the spectacle. Being a work of news, a subtle touch that certainly did not go unnoticed was the eleven scene names seemingly hastily scribbled in black paint on cardboard cutouts hung above the stage. The apocalyptic and desperate style remained faithful to the original and for each new scene these overhead titles were displayed as a further hint to the audience as to what was to come. These subtle sets by Joanna Scotcher really took the show to a more imaginative place, and while this is certainly a good thing for the set designers, it probably didn't miss what Brecht was going for with this show. There have been dozens of stagings and adaptations of Mother Courage, and in each one it is always clear that capitalism is the bane of humanity. Chillingly, when Mother Courage realizes that all three of her children are dead, she doesn't even particularly cry: her last words are "business as usual" in this adaptation, as she climbs into her ice cream truck and he struggles to pull it. off stage, lit by a single flame in a metal drum. It really seems to hit home how blind Mother Courage appears throughout this play, driven by greed and making a living off misery, and yet it is this final scene, followed by a slow song of children singing "saddle up and carry on", that we truly realize is honestly lost in the world of capitalism and consumerism. The total lack of light beyond the small flame also seems symbolic of how empty her life has become: from her three children, the chaplain and the chef, to no one and essentially nothing. It almost seems like Jordan wants us to pay attention to..