May 31, 2012
Adelaide
Theatre

War Mother
State Theatre Company
Space Theatre, Adelaide Festival Theatre
May 30. Tickets $ 18 – $ 30
Bookings : BASS 131 246
Until June 2.
Metro/Regional tour June 4 – 22.

Interweaving scripts by Harold Pinter, Franca Rame and Dario Fo, and Dutch playwright Marjolijn van Heemstra, State Theatre’s War Mother describes the pity and terror of war from maternal perspectives – whether as the mother of a militant son, or a woman vainly protecting a child from lethal danger. In a crisply directed production, designed with blood-smeared backdrops by Ailsa Paterson and richly lit by David Gadsden , Catherine Fitzgerald knits together monologues from actors Anni Lindner (The Switch) and Eileen Darley (A Mother) and adds three mordant songs by Bertolt Brecht and Hans Eisler. Intended for school audiences, this production is demanding in its themes and grim in the telling, but powerfully reminds us that the continuing cycle of violence, repression and revenge is the mother of all tragedies.

Murray Bramwell

Out and About listings , The Australian, June 1 , 2012