Michael Cox speaks with director Morven Gregor about Bird's of Paradise's latest production of Mother Courage and Her Children.
Michael Cox: First, why Mother Courage, and why do the play now?
Morven Gregor: At least two reasons. Primarily it’s a play set during the Thirty Years War, and the UK is currently involved in a war. In fact, when I checked back there has been war/armed conflict somewhere in the world for my whole life. So, although there isn’t a current war called anything like The Thirty Years War- that concept of ongoing conflict and the business deals that are fed by it (or arguably feed it) interests me. Sadly, it seems like it’s a very timely piece.
Secondly, there’s the character of Kattrin, who is selectively mute as the result of a war-time trauma. So that was interesting from the company’s point of view.
MC: Are you focusing a bit more on the character of Kattrin as she ties in the company's point of view?
MG: Kattrin is certainly very central. Initially I'd considered her to be deaf, but I realised that actually she does hear what other characters are saying - hence the realisation that she must be selectively mute. She is a very interesting character.
MC: Whenever dealing with Brecht, you of course have the baggage of his theory of Alienation. Are you at all influenced by these theories or do you find that they get in the way? How have you used, or fought against, these theories and ideas?
MG: It’s a balance. Part of the attraction of Brecht is his whole approach to theatre. I find the concept of Alienation interesting and to be honest, very modern. We’ve become more used to seeing actors comment and reflect on the action on stage and to little moments of thought-provoking irony, so it feels very comfortable to be working with that. However, what we present has to work for today’s audience, so I’m not making a pedantic recreation of what Brecht staged. I haven’t reached for the Mother Courage model book. Theatre has travelled along way since the 1940s (and, of course, Brecht’s partially responsible for that) so we have to make any of those techniques work for today.
MC: Why did you choose this translation?
MG: It’s modern, pace-y and brings the text up to date.
MC: Did you do any research or make any preparations prior to rehearsal?
MG: Yes, a lot of reading, image referencing, a read-through. Unfortunately my ticket to see the Berlinner Ensemble perform the play was wasted because it co-incided with the Ash Cloud cancelling flights!
MC: Which of the characters do you find yourself most interested in, and why?
MG: Well, the play’s called Mother Courage and her Children, so there’s a clue, but as the director I’m interested in them all.
MC: Okay, that was perhaps a silly question, so let's go back to Kattrin and Mother Courage. What is it about these two characters that interests you? Do you perhaps sympathise with Courage at all?
MG: I think one of the challenges is to understand Courage and then empathise with her. She seems to make the wrong choices - often for reasons that are difficult to understand - but it's her knowledge and fear of poverty that is at the root of this. There's a finacial context. Kattrin, by contrast, is an immediately admirable character- the hero we'd all hope to be.
MC: As it’s an episodic play, is there a certain scene or moment that jumps out at you more than others?
MG: I’m fascinated by the moments of stillness that arise.
MC: What exactly is it about stillness that grabs you?
MG: Maybe that's a personal thing. Maybe it's contrast, maybe it's a nod to theatre from Japan and maybe that when everything is so busy, the important things have to take their own proper time.
MC: Have you been influenced by any of the images that you discovered in your research?
MG: I've done a lot of image sharing with Hazel Blue, the designer. I've looked at a huge range of images around women in warfare from the 17th century to the present day. Once I settled on a contemporary setting, I looked at a lot of images of women in non-combat roles, especially journalists and politicians. But really I use images a lot more to trigger ideas and moods than to recreate. I've looked at everything from McQueen boots to Bansky graffitti to very alarming images of guns.
MC: It’s a play that has a large number of characters. How are you managing to juggle them in your production?
MG: We’ve a cast of seven, so there’s a lot of doubling. That take a little bit of planning, but it’s working well.
MC: Has there been something about the play, be it a character, song, plot point, etc, that has surprised you? Perhaps something was a bit more difficult than you’d thought, or a character became a bit more sympathetic than you’d originally imagined.
MG: I really have been pleasantly surprised by the songs! In seeing some Brecht productions I’ve felt, “oh no not another one!” And we have done some editing, but what we have is working well – and they do add to the idea of distancing/alienation.
MC: A bit of a loaded question, but what relevance do you think the play has to a modern Scottish audience?
MG: Well, yesterday we had David Cameron flying around the Middle East with a plane load of arms manufacturers! So, I’d say it’s hugely relevant; not just for the obvious reasons about war and trade, but for other reasons too; how do we (especially perhaps Scots) show or articulate emotions to our nearest and dearest? What do we value when we face financial ruin?
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