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''Mother Courage and Her Children'' () is a play written in 1939 by the German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956) with significant contributions from Margarete Steffin.〔''Brecht Chronik'', Werner Hecht, editor. (Suhrkamp Verlag, 1998), p. 566.〕 After four theatrical productions in Switzerland and Germany from 1941 to 1952—the last three supervised and/or directed by Brecht—the play was filmed several years after Brecht's death in 1959/1960 with Brecht's widow and leading actress, Helene Weigel.〔''Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder''. (DEFA-Film 1959/60), after the production by Bertolt Brecht and Erich Engel at the Berliner Ensemble, with Helene Weigel, Angelika Hurwicz, Ekkehard Schall, Heinz Schubert, Ernst Busch; directed by Peter Palitzsch and Manfred Wekwerth; with music by Paul Dessau.〕 ''Mother Courage'' is considered by some to be the greatest play of the 20th century, and perhaps also the greatest anti-war play of all time.〔Oskar Eustis, Program Note for the New York Shakespeare Festival production of ''Mother Courage and Her Children'' with Meryl Streep, August, 2006. See also Brett D. Johnson, "Review of ''Mother Courage and Her Children''". ''Theatre Journal'', Volume 59, Number 2, May 2007, pp. 281–282, in which Johnson writes: "Although numerous theatrical artists and scholars may share artistic director Oskar Eustis's opinion that Brecht's masterpiece is the greatest play of the twentieth century, productions of ''Mother Courage'' remain a rarity in contemporary American theatre."〕 ==Context== ''Mother Courage'' is one of nine plays that Brecht wrote in an attempt to counter the rise of Fascism and Nazism. In response to the invasion of Poland by the German armies of Adolf Hitler in 1939, Brecht wrote ''Mother Courage'' in what writers call a "white heat"—in a little over a month.〔Klaus Volker. ''Brecht Chronicle''. (Seabury Press, 1975). P. 92.〕 As leading Brecht scholars Ralph Manheim and John Willett wrote: :''Mother Courage'', with its theme of the devastating effects of a European war and the blindness of anyone hoping to profit by it, is said to have been written in a month; judging by the almost complete absence of drafts or any other evidence of preliminary studies, it must have been an exceptionally direct piece of inspiration.〔"Introduction," ''Bertolt Brecht: Collected Plays'', vol. 5. (Vintage Books, 1972) p. xi〕 Following Brecht's own principles for political drama, the play is not set in modern times but during the Thirty Years' War of 1618–1648. It follows the fortunes of Anna Fierling, nicknamed "Mother Courage", a wily canteen woman with the Swedish Army who is determined to make her living from the war. Over the course of the play, she loses all three of her children, Swiss Cheese, Eilif, and Kattrin, to the same war from which she sought to profit. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mother Courage and Her Children」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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