Mother Courage in Africa - for Ramses Alfa, these are harvest workers in the peanut fields in Togo, who work with their babies on their backs in the scorching heat for a meagre wage. Or the street vendors in the capital Lomé, who move around the houses in search of customers with heavy bags of lemonade, fruit or fabrics to secure a minimal income for their families. Like Brecht's "Mother Courage", these women are in a war, but a permanent one, directed against their own needs and thus against themselves, but also against a system that keeps them trapped at the lowest level of the capitalist chain of exploitation.

"Brecht's style and complexity have always left plenty of room for popular expression. In "Mother Courage and Her Children" we find different levels of language depending on the social category to which the characters belong. The alternation between these levels and the use of songs and stories, which all contribute to distancing, are similar to the popular dramatization of the fairy tale and the concert party practiced in Togo. Brecht's focus on social issues makes him a writer for Africa. The African folk dramas alternate between narrative and action and also feature people from humble backgrounds as heroes. Brecht's heroes are also often people from humble backgrounds." Ramses Alfa

Performance rights: Suhrkamp Verlag / Brecht Erben

Jan-Pieter Fuhr