Bertolt Brecht

The Mother

Photo: Peter Uhan

Slovene National Theatre Drama Ljubljana / SNG Drama Ljubljana

The Life of the Revolutionary Pelagea Vlassova from Tver
(Based on Maxim Gorky’s novel)

Original title Die Mutter. Leben der Revolutionärin Pelagea Wlassowa aus Twer
(Nach dem Roman Maxim Gorkis)

Music Hanns Eisler

Première 6. 10. 2012 Main Stage, SNG Drama Ljubljana

Running time 1 hour and 45 minutes without an interval.

Translator Urška Brodar
Director Sebastijan Horvat
Composer Drago Ivanuša
Dramaturg Andraž Golc
Stage Designer Marko Japelj
Costume Designer Belinda Radulović
Language Consultant Tatjana Stanič
Lighting Designer Pascal Mérat

Cast
Mother Nataša Barbara Gračner
Lado Bizovičar as guest
Radko Polič
Uroš Fürst
Aleš Valič as guest
Klemen Slakonja

The Mother – a crash course on the Communist revolution, a sort of alphabet of Marxism for the masses. Through the character of Pelagea Vlassova whose concern for her son transforms her from a modest housewife into a frontline fighter for proletarian emancipation, the fourteen documentary scenes outline a clear message: revolution is for everybody, especially for the little man who feels he has no business with it.
One woman, an actress, a mother, acts like a medium. She doesn’t speak, she sees, she remembers. Her transformation of passive thoughts and behaviour occurs through the interaction with five co-actors who try to stimulate her to change and become active by shifting roles: by encouraging her, insulting her, instructing her, lecturing her, singing to her…
We may understand this production as a wake-up call for a renewed reflection upon who we are, upon the awareness of the seriousness but not the hopelessness of the position we find ourselves in.