2/17/98
ATHENS, Ohio -- Ohio University's School of Theater presents the play "Mother Courage & Her Children" March 4 through 14 in the RTVC Building's Forum Theater.
The play, featuring a cast of 16 students, is directed by School of Theater Director Toni Dorfman. Written by German playwright Bertolt Brecht, the original play was set in Europe during the Thirty Years' War. Ohio University's version -- while still sharing the saga of a mother who loses her children to war as she follows the armies to make a living selling supplies -- is set in Vietnam.
The Vietnam connection is especially meaningful to Dorfman, who worked with School of Theater Associate Director William Condee and graduate student Liz Lee to revise the script. Dorfman's brother, David, was killed in Vietnam in 1966.
"A director's job is to convey to an audience his or her deepest responses to the material," Dorfman said. "I really think I'm doing the play as a way to take Dave with me."
In the title role of Mother Courage is Judith Malina, an internationally recognized theater director, producer and actor. Malina's understudy in the role, Ohio University graduate student Manon Halliburton, is scheduled to play Mother Courage in the March 12 show and the March 14 matinee.
"Mother Courage" is the fifth of eight productions in the School of Theater's 1997-98 season. Remaining shows are "Suddenly Last Summer" March 9 through 14, "Much Ado About Nothing" May 6 through 16 and "Strange Snow" May 18 through 23.
"Mother Courage & Her Children" is presented at 8 p.m. March 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 13 and 14, and at 2 p.m. March 14. Tickets, priced at $8 for adults and $6 for students and senior citizens, are available at the Kantner Hall ticket office or by calling 593-4800. The ticket office is open from noon to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and an hour before curtain time.