Report and Pics by Mounesh Vishwakarma
Daijiworld Media Network – Bantwal (RD/SP)

Shimoga, Sep 11: ‘Mother Courage’, Kannada play that was staged by ‘Kinnara Mela’ from Tumari at Kuvempu auditorium here on Monday September 9, through a programme organized by Sahaydri Theate Troupe on Monday September 7, succeeded in drawing rapt attention of the viewers. Every scene of this play of about 130 minutes duration, the way the story unfolds and exemplary acting skills displayed by the artistes, succeeded in holding the viewers spellbound. 

‘Mother Courage’ is the Kannada translation of the original play by the same name, authored by a German dramatist named Bertolt Brecht. The translation was done by Lingadevaru Halemane and K S Rajendran from Tamilnadu, a professor with the National School of Drama, New Delhi, has directed the play for ‘Kinnara Mela’ of veteran theatre personality K G Krishnamurty.

‘Mother Courage’ was authored by Bartolt Brecht in the year 1930, the first such play by him, based on war.  The foreword for the play, as written by Bartolt Brecht, runs thus; ‘Common men cannot gain much through war, which is nothing but an extension of business. The methods employed are the only differences one sees between business and war. Not only the wars crush the value system, but they also push those who started them, to a miserable condition. The efforts aimed at stopping a war are much more valuable than any other kinds of sacrifices’. The words uttered by Brecht then have remained relevant even as of now. As ‘Kinnara Mela’ troupe’s convener K G Krishnamurty says, this play does not stop at just revealing the business interests involved with war and investment. It also shows how people, lured by the thoughts that getting involved with the war would bring them profits, join hands with it, he adds.

‘Mother Courage’ ekes out a living by selling goods in a push-cart, covering many villages, trying to maximize her earnings. At the same time, she fails to rescue her three children from the midst of war.  At last, the play ends with ‘Mother Courage,’ left to fend for herself, dragging her pushcart alone, with no one to communicate or fall back on.

The play, which was weaved by keeping in mind the circumstances of the war that ensued between the Catholics and the Protestants, succeeds in cementing a strong anti-war feelings among the audience, in spite of the fact that the play continues to place before them arguments in favour of the war. The systems and chaos within the armed forces, the youth who are lured to join the army, enticed by the desire to get uniforms, shoes and other facilities, have been successfully depicted in the play. The sufferings a dumb girl is made togo through during the wartime, has been brought before the eyes of the audience very effectively.  The push-cart and soldiers’ camps set up on the stage add to the effectiveness of the play. The fast-paced change over of the scenes in the backdrop of ‘Chende’ beats , give a new experience.  

With her fine acting skills, Susheela Kelamane, who donned the role of Mother Courage, has contributed greately to the success of this play.  The other actors, Sunil Shetty, Sunil Heggodu, Medini Kelamane, Satish Poojary, Raghavendra Hanumant Poojar, Raghuram, Bhavani Uppinangady and Bharati Puttur too have succeeded in instilling life into their roles. Music provided by Chandrashekar Achar Mysore and K N Nagaraj and light affects by Lokpal Jain, have won the hearts of the audience.

Brecht had said in 1930, “Mother Courage does not understand the reality about what she is going through. She is unable to learn through experiences.” What he said then, is relevant even in the year 2009. Here, ‘Mother Courage’ is just an imaginary name. If we project ourselves in her role, and introspect on her experiences, we will realize how true Brecht’s words are, even about 80 years after he wrote them!