Review: MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN at Globe Theatre

Stuart King 17 May, 2026, 10:48

Perhaps I should start with a confession, or at least a disclaimer… For all its significance and reputation, I have never much liked Bertolt Brecht's MOTHER COURAGE. There, I've admitted it. First performed in Switzerland in 1941, the tale serves as a tragic and cynical satire on war, politics, and the insulating gap which exists between those decision-makers operating at the upper echelons and those who are most impacted by their whims and must inevitably bear the brunt of any consequences. The play's rudimentary premise is a tale as old as time.

The company of Mother Courage and Her Children at Shakespeare's Globe. © Marc Brenner

Glenda Jackson squeezed the life out of the title part at the soulless Mermaid Theatre in the early '90s. The more empathic Diana Rigg tried her damnedest to make the role palatable at the National a few years later. Fiona Shaw's embodying 15 years ago (again at the National), seemed altogether too trivial and chipper, and so whilst marvelling at these titans' individual stagecraft and choices, I've never felt that the piece was for me.

And so I landed at Shakespeare's Globe on Friday with some trepidation, to witness the venue's artistic director's turn as the ebullient yet tragic figure who over years of grinding and pointless war, services the needs of both Purple and Blue armies by means if her trundling wagon of commodities. She is the epitome of a capitalist wheeler-dealer, viewing hardship as opportunity and trading in the gap between need and principles.

There are occasions when an actor hits the stage, instinctively commands it and seemingly conducts everything which happens upon it. So it was with Michelle Terry who ripped the throat out of Mother Courage at The Globe's press night on Friday evening. Bestriding the stage with a verve and energy which lifts the entire production, she exudes a worldly-wise protective quality which renders her mother to the entire company. Her children — swaggering but manipulated Eilif (Vinnie Heaven), the altogether more gentle but foolishly principled Swiss Cheese (Rawaed Asde) and mute daughter Kattrin (Rachelle Diedericks) relish their moments in her orbit, as do Ferdy Roberts as the flawed godsquad Minister and Nicholas Tennant as Chef.

Anna Jordan's contemporary expletive-strewn translation as directed by Elle While, benefits from songs which have the effect of both momentarily removing us from the action yet lyrically immersing us still deeper into its themes. The notion that the play is set over thousands of days on a grid system which effectively eliminates geopolitical nation identities, adds a further layer of abstract dystopia to proceedings. Designer takis has cunningly deployed a wooden passerelle used extensively for entrances and exits but also as a means to haul Mother Courage's dilapidated wagon cart around the auditorium within touching distance of audience members standing in the yard. The effect is compelling and effectively reanimates those nomadic moments in the storyline.

With such a towering central performance, perhaps there is yet a chance I shall become a devotee of this difficult-to-enjoy play. Like others, Ms Terry may not succeed in making the character likeable, (in truth, who could?) but the fluidity, comedy and restrained pathos in her iteration is wholly impressive and utterly arresting.

MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN runs 2 hours 30 min including interval and continues at Shakespeare's Globe until 27th June.

Mother Courage and Her Children tickets