Happy Birthday Bertolt Brecht
Mother Courage and words on War
Today is the great revolutionary playwright and poet Bertolt Brecht’s birthday. To celebrate I am sharing the above clip from a rehearsal starring Meryl Streep as Mother Courage. I used to fantasize about playing this role; I saw her do so in person twice. Her performance was staggering, and truthfully, I was envious. She speaks, in this clip, of why she took on this role, and there is a beautiful moment when she sings a lullaby for her three dead children. I love this performance and her observations.
So, happy birthday Bertolt Brecht! Thank you for Mother Courage, Baal, The Rise and Fall of Mahagonny and of course the immortally wondrous Three Penny Opera….
A Good evening to all…
Brecht was a seer, a revolutionary artist who saw the truth of the human condition under capitalism and was brave enough to sing those truths in his work. no matter the medium, isn’t every artist a singer? thank you so much Patti, for always paying tender tribute to the artists who came before, paving the road for those who speak of the misbegotten... and the why of it. The ghosts have so much to teach us. shake up a ghost dance! ❤️
This ... what does one say. This effected me in a profound way. My mom survived WWII in Slovakia. These words these statements in the way performed by an actor like Meryl Streep and written by Bertolucci Brecht hauntingly beautiful. Oh thank you for this sharing of performance of these words. Left me wanting more. Have a pleasant weekend all. Especially you Patti 🙏