Mother Courage and Her Children
Written by: Bertolt Brecht, Music by Paul Dessau, Hans Eisler, Kurt Weill, and Jan Powell & Ken Stone, English Version by Eric Bentley
Directed by: Andrew J. Robinson
Recommended for Ages 16+
Recommended for Ages 16+
Widely considered one of the great dramatic creations of the modern stage, Mother Courage and Her Children is Bertolt Brecht’s most passionate and profound statement against war. Set in the seventeenth century, the play follows Anna Fierling — Mother Courage — an itinerant trader, as she pulls her wagon of wares and her children through the blood and carnage of Europe’s religious wars. Battered by hardships, brutality, and the degradation and death of her children, she ultimately finds herself alone with the one thing in which she truly believes — her ramshackle wagon with its tattered flag and freight of boots and brandy. Fitting herself in its harness, the old woman manages, with the last of her strength, to drag it onward to the next battle. In the enduring figure of Mother Courage, Bertolt Brecht has created one of the most extraordinary characters in dramatic literature.
PRODUCTION TEAM
Musical Director: Jan Powell
Musical Staging: Harry Groener
Scenic Design: John Iacovelli
Lighting Design: Ellen Monocroussos
Costume Design: Michele K. Short
Properties Design: Chuck Olson
Fight Director: Matthew Jaeger
Dramaturg: Irene Robinson
Muralist: Judith Von Euer
Production Stage Manager: Young Ji
Stage Manager: Lindsey Martens
Orchestra:
Accordion: Alicia Wollerton, Eric Johnson
Bugle: Terry Evans
Guitar: Eugene Alper
Banjolele, Duduk: John Apicella
Drums: Janellen Steininger, Ralph Drischell
Didgeridoo, Recorder: Matthew Jaeger
Recorder: John Sloan
Cast
Rhonda Aldrich*
YVETTE
At ANTAEUS: Measure for Measure, Diana of Dobson's, The Cripple of Inishmaan, Picnic, Henry IV, Part One, The Curse of Oedipus, Top Girls, The Crucible, You Can’t Take It With You, The Autumn Garden, Tonight at 8:30, Mother Courage and Her Children, Proof of the Promise, Trial by Jury. She has appeared Off-Broadway, regionally at Milwaukee Repertory Theater and Pittsburgh Public Theater, and locally at the Mark Taper Forum, South Coast Repertory, The Los Angeles Theatre Center and at numerous small theaters. Television: Sequestered, The Middle, Criminal Minds, Without a Trace, StarTrek TNG (recurring). Movies: K-town Cowboys, Night of the Living Dead 3D: Re-animation, Gods of Circumstance, Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles, Bob Roberts, Welcome Home Roxy Carmichael, the cult classic Jailbird Rock, among others.
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John Apicella*
RECRUITING OFFICER/CHAPLAIN
At ANTAEUS: The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Diana of Dobson's, The Hothouse, The Curse of Oedipus, You Can’t Take It With You, Mother Courage and her Children, Trial By Jury, Patience, The Man Who Had All the Luck, The Wood Demon. A founding member and early co-artistic director. Other Stages: Hillary and Bill (Victory Gardens Theater), The Imaginary Invalid, Glengarry Glen Ross, The First Picture Show (American Conservatory Theater), 36 Views (Laguna Playhouse), Archy and Mehitabel: A Back Alley Opera (The Yard, Chilmark), Temptation, The Wood Demon (Mark Taper Forum), Sex Parasite, Largo Desolato (Taper, Too), The History Boys (Ahmanson Theatre), Durango (East West Players), A Christmas Carol (Dallas Theater Center).
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Gigi Bermingham*
YVETTE
At ANTAEUS: Glass Menagerie, Native Son, Cloud 9, Picnic, The Liar, The Seagull, Tonight at 8:30, Mother Courage, Pera Palas, Trial By Jury; and directed The Importance of Being Earnest and You Can’t Take It With You. OTHER STAGE: Pasadena Playhouse, Old Globe, Kirk Douglas Theatre, La Mirada, ETC Santa Barbara, Rubicon, MainStreet, Skylight, Blank, Odyssey, Boston Court, Playwrights’ Arena, and New York’s Public Theatre. FILM: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Amsterdam, Alex and Emma, etc. TV: Recurring on NCIS: Origins, Platonic, Loot, Chicago Fire, Clipped; guest appearances include: Hacks, The Last Thing He Told Me, 9-1-1 Lone Star, Terminal List, S.W.A.T., American Horror Story, Jane the Virgin, etc. 2013 L.A. Stage Alliance Ovation Award for Leading Actress for portrayal of Maria Callas in Master Class at International City Long Beach; and L.A. Drama Critics Circle Natalie Schafer Award and an Ovation for Solo Performance for her solo comedy Non-Vital Organs. Gigi coaches actors and is a career mentor. gigibermingham.com
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Anne Gee Byrd*
MOTHER COURAGE
At ANTAEUS: Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Autumn Garden and Mother Courage (LA Weekly Award). Other recent credits include: Good People at La Mirada, Three Views of the Same Object and Four Places (LADCC Award) at Rogue Machine Theater, The Savanna Disputation at the Colony Theatre and Kate in All My Sons (LADCC Award) at the Matrix Theater, Breadcrumbs at Theater 150 in Ojai, I Never Sang For My Father with The New American Theater Company. She has also appeared in L.A. at the Mark Taper Forum, the Geffen Playhouse, the Pasadena Playhouse, L.A. Theater Works, the Odyssey, and the Andak Stage Co. Regionally, she has worked at South Coast Repertory, The Old Globe,San Diego Rep, Seattle Rep, La Jolla Rep, ACT, San Francisco Rep, The American Shakespeare Festival , Connecticut Rep, the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival, the McCarter, Princeton Rep to name a few. She recently appeared on TV in Murder in the First and in the motion picture Wild.
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Terry Evans
SWEDISH COMMANDER/SOLDIER
At ANTAEUS: Patience, The Man Who Had All the Luck, Mother Courage and Her Children, Trial By Jury, The Proof of the Promise, Pedrolino, The Plot to Overthrow Christmas, and others. A former board member, he’s acted, produced, designed, and production managed for Antaeus. He is a founding member of Andak Stage Company. Los Angeles credits include the west coast premieres of Ira Levin’s Cantorial (University of Judaism) and Denial by Peter Sagal (El Portal.) The Angeles of Lemnos, The Merchant of Venice (The Road Company.) and others. He has appeared in films and television, recorded a series of audio books and worked as a voice-over artist. A project manager and design consultant, he conceived and designed one of the three performance venues at the El Portal Theatre. He served on the North Hollywood Public Art Advisory Committee, and in multiple capacities helping develop the NoHo Arts District.
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Harry Groener*
THE COOK
Harry Groener is a founding member At ANTAEUS: Pera Palas, Mother Courage, The Bear in Chekhov x Four, and the title role in King Lear (Drama Circle Award), Big Daddy in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (Ovation, Drama Critics Circle and Stage Raw Awards), Three Days In The Country and Uncle Vanya. His multiple Broadway and Off Broadway credits include Crazy For You (Tony and Drama Desk Nominations), Cats (Tony Nomination), Oh Brother!, Oklahoma! (Tony Nomination and received Theater World Award), Harrigan and the Hart, Is there Life After High school, Sleight of Hand, Sunday in the Park with George, Imaginary Friends, and Spamalot. Other Nominations and Awards: Ovation Award Equivocation, Geffen Playhouse, Jefferson Award (The Madness of King George, Chicago Shakespeare Theater), Jefferson Award Nominations: Cyrano De Bergerac, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, William Tecumseh Sherman, The March, Steppenwolf Theater. Other recent credits include: Lincoln and LBJ in Appomattox, The Guthrie Theater; The Train Driver, Long Wharf Theater. Film and Television partial: About Schmidt, Patch Adams, and Road to Perdition, Cure For Wellness, Dear John, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, CSI, How I Met Your Mother, Medium, Bones, Las Vegas, Breaking Bad, The West Wing and Star Trek: The Next Generation, Voyager, and Enterprise.
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Adam Meyer
A SOLDIER/ A PEASANT
At ANTAEUS: Mother Courage, Tonight at 8:30, King Lear, The Malcontent, Peace In Our time, Macbeth, and Oedipus. He is a founding A2 Rep of the A2 ensemble. Currently, he is involved in the two person tour called Marilyn Madness and Me about Marilyn Monroe and her limo driver. He has done Theatre all over the US at such reputable theatres as The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Williamstown Theatre Festival and Cortland Repertory Theatre. Some TV credits include: Untold Stories from the E.R. (TLC) and Ella and Me (Animal Planet). He has appeared in many comedy sketches on www.meyerbros.net. He is currently studying with Lesly Kahn Studios. Rebecca Miller is a beautiful soul and without her, he is nothing. @AdamJohnMeyer, www.adamtheactor.com
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Philip Proctor
RECRUITING OFFICER/CHAPLAIN
Phil Proctor is a 15-year member of Antaeus and a 50-year member of the thrice-Grammy-nominated Firesign Theatre, recognized as one of the “Thirty Greatest Acts of All Time” with a recording in the Library of Congress. He’s appeared on-and-off Broadway, on street corners in the USSR with the Yale Russian Chorus, in many local and regional theatres, on radio, and in scores of films, video games and TV shows. He’s won Theatre World, LA Weekly, LA Free Press and Drama Critics’ awards, and his voice credits include Toy Story, Spirited Away, Monsters, Inc., Seahorse Bob in Finding Nemo, the Drunken French Monkey in Dr. Dolittle, Dr. Vidic in Assassin’s Creed, and Howard DeVille in the Emmy-winning Rugrats, with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is currently featured in the independent films Window of Opportunity, Charity and The Love Addict and tours in a one-man reading of Don Quixote with the L.A. Guitar Quartet.
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John Sloan*
EILIF/A SOLDIER
At ANTAEUS: Mother Courage and Her Children, King Lear, Macbeth. Elsewhere in Los Angeles: Mark Taper Forum, Geffen Playhouse, Pasadena Playhouse, South Coast Repertory, Theatre@Boston Court, The Matrix. Other appearances around the country include: Denver Center Theatre, Intiman Theatre, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, La Mama Etc., Soho Rep., American Jewish Theatre, Mint Theatre Company. TV: Bones, NCIS, Farmed & Dangerous, Liz & Dick, How I Met Your Mother, Happy Hour, Private Practice, Grey’s Anatomy, The Triangle, CSI:NY, Judging Amy, Commander in Chief, Gilmore Girls. Film: The Oh in Ohio, Lady Killers, The Mountain King. John is a graduate of Skidmore College.
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Janellen Steininger*
NARRATOR/ PEASANT WOMAN
Janellen is well-known to Los Angeles theater audiences. She most recently appeared in Native Gardens at Coachella Valley Rep. Other credits: Maria Vasilyevna Voynitskaya in Uncle Vanya at New American Theatre. And she appeared in the original cast of its precursor, The Wood Demon, at The Mark Taper Forum, where she also appeared in A Flaw in the Ointment at Taper Too. Janellen has also performed at The Old Globe. In L.A. at: L.A. Theatreworks, East/West Players, the Getty Villa, The Odyssey, The Fountain Theatre, Sacred Fools,The Evidence Room, 24th Street Theatre, and in several productions with The Antaeus Company of which she is a founding member. She has appeared on TV in shows such as Sleeper Cell, Roseanne, Strong Medicine and in independent films. She has also appeared at regional theaters from Ohio, to New York, to Key West. Janellen is also a jazz vocalist and as a voice over actor, she can be heard in numerous video games, animation, radio and T.V commercials, and dubs English into international television films and series. She helped develop and lead Antaeus’ Education Outreach program and has taught for Antaeus Academy.
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Geoffrey Wade*
SERGEANT/LIEUTENANT/SOLDIER
At ANTAEUS: Appeared in The Malcontent, Tonight at 8:30, The Man Who Had All the Luck, Mercadet, Mother Courage, ClassicsFest in 2006 and 2008; co-directed The Crucible. Other directing credits include A Walk in the Woods at Sierra Madre and Ruffian on the Stair. He appeared on Broadway in Translations and An American Daughter; several Off-Broadway productions and tours. Radio work with LA Theatre Works in The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial and Top Secret. Extensive regional work includes South Coast Rep, La Mirada Theater, Lincoln Amphitheatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and The Rep Theatre of St. Louis. Also Pennsylvania Stage, Center Stage, GeVa, the Guthrie, Denver Center and Carbonell nominated performances at the Caldwell. Many leading roles at Vermont’s Weston Playhouse. TV: NCIS, Brothers & Sisters, Numbers, ER, Justice, Monk, Scrubs, King of Queens, Law and Order, and so on. Film: City Hall and the award winning short Tres. He is the staff photographer at ANTAEUS, and has taught at the Academy since 2003.
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Timothy Adam Venable
SWISS CHEESE/ A SOLDIER
At ANTAEUS: The Little Foxes, Mother Courage and Her Children. Other Theaters: Henry IV Parts 1 & 2 at Shakespeare & Co., Dancing at Lughnasa at Portland Stage Company, The Black Dahlia, Brimmer Street Theatre Company, Son of Semele Ensemble, Off Square Theatre Company, Boston Court Pasadena, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, and three seasons at A Noise Within. TV/Film: Brooklyn, Maybe (writer/director), Best Christmas Ever (writer), After the Beep, Verona, Where the Road Meets the Sun, Ashes; TBS, Spike TV. Training: Shakespeare & Co., Pig Iron Theatre, The Berg Studios, iOWest, Illinois State University.
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Josh Clark*
SERGEANT/LIEUTENANT/SOLDIER
At ANTAEUS: The Hothouse, Picnic, Peace in Our Time, The Curse of Oedipus, The Autumn Garden, Tonight at 8:30. Other Theater: Broadway credits include Execution of Justice, Alice in Wonderland, The Man Who Came To Dinner. Other New York credits include Three US premiers at the Manhattan Theater Club, including The Rear Column by Simon Gray, Molly (Hudson Guild), The Browning Version (Roundabout), The Old Glory (American Place). Featured Actor Ovation nomination for The Savannah Disputation (The Colony Theatre Company). TV/Film: Mr. Clark had a supporting role in the Disney film McFarland, USA, recently completed filming a leading role on the indie film The Wanting Mare and has appeared in many television shows, most recently The Last Ship, Westworld (recurring), How To Get Away With Murder, Murder In The First (recurring), True Detective 2, Scorpion, Gang Related, Aquarius, Justified, Hawaii 5-0, Shameless, Scandal.
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Emily Eiden
KATTRIN
Matthew Jaeger
EILIF/A SOLDIER
Ralph Drischell
COLONEL/CLERK/OLD PEASANT
Andrew Matthews
A SOLDIER/ A PEASANT
Katy Tyszkiewicz
KATTRIN
*member, Actor’s Equity Association, the union of professional Actors and Stage Managers in the U.S. This production is presented under the auspices of the Actors’ Equity Los Angeles Membership Company Rule
“…a splendid cast of dedicated actors.”
Park Labrea News/Beverly Press“…a magnificent achievement.”
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