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“MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN” by Bertolt Brecht
Theatre of the Society for Macedonian Studies (EMS)
Translated by: Giorgos Depastas. Directed by: Nikita Milivojevic
Opening: 20 October 2016

Bertolt Brecht’s classic anti-war masterpiece, written in 1939, while the author was in exile in Sweden, marks a double return to the National Theatre of Northern Greece: The Serbian director Nikita Milivojevic returns after 13 years in order to direct one extremely contemporary play in a new translation by Giorgos Depastas. Moreover, the actress Lydia Fotopoulou returns to the NTNG, eight years after her last collaboration, to portray the title role.
 

 
The premiere, which is part of the 51st Dimitria International Festival, will take place at the Theatre of the Society for Macedonian Studies.
 
Anna Fierling, known as Mother Courage, is Brecht’s anti-heroine. Mother of three children, all by different fathers, she is an ingenious trader, who is struggling for her own and her children’s survival, during the Thirty-Years War’ (1618-1648). The play’s action lasts twelve years, during which Mother Courage consistently follows the army with her wagon and sponges on the war. With a strong sense of self-preservation and impressive flexibility of character, Mother Courage goes through everything a human can endure. Profit is what she aims at, but, in the end, she loses what she treasures the most.
 
“Mother Courage” has been put on by the NTNG once again: in 1982 Theodoros Terzopoulos directed the play and Lina Lambraki performed the title role.
 

 

Director’s Note
I think that Mother Courage is a great play of particular interest to the Greek audience since it reflects the current condition of the country. It is sad, but I have the impression that Greece today is a Mother Courage. As is, also, Serbia. In the foreground, however, is not so much the futility of war but the futility of greed. Moreover, greed is one of the main characteristics of the world in which we live. Almost everything happens because of greed. Due to our small, selfish personal interests, we lose big, incomparably more valuable things. Mother Courage loses her children. Moreover, we could see another phenomenon: one generation (the oldest) sold the other (the younger). Finally, I am concerned that this very moment millions of people look for a more tranquil and decent place to live. Mother Courage is a theatre production that refers to all these issues.
 

 MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN by Bertolt Brecht
Music: Paul Dessau. Translation: Giorgos Depastas. Direction: Nikita Milivojevic. Sets & costumes: Kenny MacLellan. Conductor: Nikos Kapetanios. Sound Design-Music Instruction: Nikos Galenianos. Choreography: Amalia Bennett. Lighting Design: Stelios Tzolopoulos
 
CAST Lydia Fotopoulou (Mother Courage), Emmanouela Magoni (Kattrin), Orestis Chalkias (Eilif), Emmanouil Kontos (Swiss Cheese), Eleftheria Aggelitsa, Stellina Vogiatzi, Sofia Kalemkeridou, Giorgos Kolovos, Dimitris Morfakidis, Aggeliki Noea, Christos Papadimitriou, Panagiotis Papaioannou, Alexandros Siatras, Mihalis Sionas.
Musicians on stage: Artemis Vavatsika, Ioanna Ganiti, Konstantinos Ioannidis, Ero Menegou, Theofilos Bikos, Andreas Papakostas-Smyris, Valentini Papanikolaou, Paschalina Tsernou.
 

 

Theatre of the Society for Macedonian Studies
20/10/2016 - 29/1/2017
Wednesday 18:00
Thursday-Friday-Saturday 21:00
Sunday 19:00
 
TICKET PRCES
 
WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY
General Admission: 5 €
 
FRIDAY
Regular Ticket (Orchestra seats): 10 €
Discount Ticket (Balcony seats, Students, 65+): 8 €
Group Ticket (over 20 persons): 7 €
 
SATURDAY & SUNDAY
Regular Ticket (Orchestra seats): 13 €
Regular Ticket (Balcony seats): 10 €
Discount Ticket (Students, 65+): 8 €
Group Ticket (over 20 persons): 7 €
 
Unemployed: Free Entrance (to all NTNG productions)
FRIDAY, SATURDAY & SUNDAY: 20 seats per performance for the productions staged at Vassiliko Theatre, EMS and Lazaristes Monastery - Sokratis Karantinos Stage / 10 seats per performance for the productions staged at EMS Foyer and Lazaristes Monastery - Studio Theatre)
DISABLED: Free Entrance (to all NTNG productions)
MEMBERS OF MULTI-CHILD FAMILIES: 5 €
TEACHERS: 10 €