Tomorrow evening, January 29, the English Theatre Company will finish their run of Mother Courage and Her Children. In a way, it feels like the actors just got here. But when I looked at the calendar, I realized, it was quite a while ago (so long ago in fact that I don’t have my 2009 calendar anymore).
It was October 26 when the compay members arrived and we had our first meet and greet and readings for both Mother Courage and Her Children and A Christmas Carol. Everyday we would hear about an interesting thing that happened in rehearsal (or read about it in Kris’ blog) or about how a costume was going to look or see some of the sets around the rehearsal hall.
A couple of really special occassions come to mind– one when the media came to the rehearsal hall and watched the process as they worked on a scene for A Christmas Carol, and when we saw the actors first go on stage for the very first time.
Three months, two productions, a little over 40 performances, countless rehearsals, costume changes (or repairs in some cases), set builds, interviews, meetings and greetings, blogs, drinks and cheers, acclaim and applause, and the end of one decade and the beginning of another later, they will head off for a brief break, before taking the production to Winnipeg to play at Manitoba Theatre Centre.
It has been such an unique experience to work with this accomplished group of artists and wonderful for everyone involved. Cheers nisha, Michael, Richard, Randi, Tanja, Geordie, Kris, Ron, John, Jani, Julie, Alex, Niall, Matt, Stephen, Waneta, Matthew, Nina, Allen, Jock, Eo, Teresa, Troy, David, Michael, Jane, Stefanie, Samira, our two little Tiny Tims, Joshua and Ananya, and of course, Peter and Paula.
Thank you for making us feel like we were part of the company – it has been a blast!
As my Dad always said, it’s not goodbye, it’s see you soon!
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One Response to “Closing Weekend of Mother Courage and Saying Farewell to the Company”
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Dear Peter,
On what was the coldest night in January, I ventured to the NAC on Friday night to see Mother Courage, overcoming my physical and psychological inertia. Although sparsely attended, the play was depressingly magnificant. I am still reeling from its stark reality, and superb artistry. Bravo to the actors, especially to Tanya Jacobs, whose gritty protrayal of Mother Courage and her moral dilemma between survival and protection of her doomed children reminded me of “Sophie’s Choice”, the War in Afghanistan and my own struggles as a single parent. All roads for Mother Courage lead to disaster and death; like many of us, she carved out a flawed destiny. A feminist anti-hero.
Good luck with the remainder of the season.