Mother Courage and Her Children - Shakespeare's Globe ★★★★★

Written by Bertolt Brecht in 1939 in response to the rise of the Nazi Party, ‘Mother Courage and Her Children’ is a piece of Epic theatre that spans decades and carries a clear anti-war message. Initially set during the Thirty Years’ War of the 17th Century, Brecht wrote about the effects of war on everyday people, using historical events to warn civilians of the rise in fascism across Europe. Sounding relevant?

In this hard-hitting 2026 production at The Globe, the creative team takes a grounded approach to the Brechtian style. There is realistic emotion, room for attachment to characters, and moments of sincerity from every actor. Rather than creating distance between audience, actor and story in a traditionally Brechtian manner, Anna Jordan and director Elle While have created a strangeness in the delivery of this play which feels exciting to watch. In an urban adaptation that reframes Brecht’s writing to reflect modern war zones, Jordan and While take a creaky historicisation and transform it into an emotional see-saw that still plays out refreshing, perspective-altering politics.

This adaptation runs for two hours and 30 minutes, including a 20-minute interval. We are first made aware of an ambiguous war between the ‘Purples’ and the ‘Blues’, fought across ‘grids’ and ‘squares’ of land. While’s directorial choice to have no references to specific countries, dates, religions or nations works, because brutal war is happening in many places right now. To set this story somewhere historical or even futuristic would feel politically reductive.

In the first scenes, we are introduced to the ambitious Mother Courage (Michelle Terry) and her three children: the easily-influenced eldest son Eilif (Vinnie Heaven); the debilitatingly honest middle child, Swiss Cheese (Rawaed Asde); and the beautiful, loving but mute daughter Kattrin (Rachelle Diedericks). The children live a desperate and nomadic lifestyle at the instruction of their imperfect mother. They live out of a cart, selling mouldy food (A.K.A. ‘Courage Burgers’), beers, T-shirts and Durex to whoever would like to buy; until the business fails, and Courage turns to selling arms instead, with no worries about which side is buying. Against a war-torn setting, this family is stuck in the middle, solely fighting to survive. Mother Courage acts cruelly to her children in order to preserve their lives, but this ultimately ends with her losing them all. The tragedy lies in her inability to have money and a family simultaneously. So Brecht posed the question: what does war do to families? While Anna Jordan takes this a step further and asks: what is war doing to families right now?

The performance begins with Zac Gvi’s riotous live band dressed in camouflage, sending dissonant jazz roaring through the pillars of Shakespeare’s Globe. The live music replaces any contemporary sound design, immersing you further. The ensemble is in motion, Glynn MacDonald’s choreography weaves into the naturally distancing architecture of The Globe. In this production, the circular theatre is an actor in its own right. Selling bog rolls to the audience from a rusty cart, three children push and pull with caricatured frustration. As the kids grow weary, soldiers circle the stage from the stalls. The saxophones get louder and then – gunshot. This moment is the first of many snappy highs and lows that drive the pace incredibly. (But they won’t be spoiled here).

Michelle Terry as Mother Courage is charismatic and ruthless; her performance fills The Globe. From her first appearance, you know everything about her. Her gait is wide and strong, her costume (by takis) gives her the outline of a ragged, booted highwayman – but her expression is worn and desperate. As a character, Mother Courage is imperfect and widely blamed for the loss of her children. However, Terry plays her with a contagious ‘tough love’ attitude, so her desperation shines through Courage’s hardened exterior. She is a mouthpiece for something greater than the individual. When confronted on her morals by The Minister/God Squad (Ferdy Roberts), she boasts that ‘[her] God is cold hard cash’ and Terry’s lack of remorse doesn’t seem heartless, but represents the desensitisation mothers must go through to compete with war. On the other hand, she shows truly tender moments with her daughter that will have you wiping your eyes. Michelle Terry’s range is unbelievable.

Acting alongside Terry throughout, Rachelle Diedericks as Kattrin, the traumatised moral centre of the play, is utterly heartbreaking. She cannot speak, communicating only with gestures and grunts. She’s the last living child who sacrifices her own life to save other innocent children. Diedericks has a powerful presence; you are consistently drawn to her. Her communication of feeling to the audience knows no bounds despite her lack of dialogue. This character requires inner strength, which Rachelle Diedericks has buckets of.

The importance of this play must not be overlooked at a time of such global unrest. Plus, this specific adaptation screams relevance. It feels like a form of activism in itself, and its power is not to be underestimated. The design team incorporates brands like Adidas, Bags for Life, Durex (and Lelli-Kellys for Kattrin) to dump this story into the current world. Designer takis dresses the stage with gritty plastic, scaffolded and worn fabric details reminiscent of refugee camps seen in news reports from across the globe. It’s a truly moving piece of theatre that will stick with you forever. Mother Courage and Her Children is a timeless play, turned into a current masterpiece.