Production History
MOTHER DIS-COURAGE
MOTHER DIS-COURAGE was first unveiled to the
world as part of a melange of anti-war artistic events entitled ARTISTS
AGAINST GEORGE W. on July 26, 2004 at Buffalo's Squeaky Wheel Media Arts
Center.
The cast for the original rendition was as follows (picture on left is of
Elizabeth Oddy as Britney Spears):
Bertolt Brecht . . . . . . Richard Wesp*
Britney Spears . . . . . Elizabeth Oddy
Mother Discourage . . . . . Betsy Bittar
Son Discourage . . . . . . Ryan O'Byrne
Money Bags . . . . Thomas LaChiusa*
George Orwell . . . . . . Phil Knoerzer+
John Lennon . . . . . . . . . Guy Balotine
Paul McCartney . Thomas LaChiusa*
The next installment of MOTHER DIS-COURAGE
came in the form of a staged reading as part of a double bill with Buffalo's
highly respected, formerly blacklisted actor/playwright Manny Fried in his
production of Arthur Miller's one-act masterpiece I CAN'T REMEMBER ANYTHING
from September 14-24, 2004.
Of this rendition, Alternative Press reviewer Alice
Girard wrote: "The dialogue in MOTHER DIS-COURAGE is pointed and
topical... Despite the unpleasant reality of the issues brought up, the play
never becomes tedious or tasteless. It always stays in the realm of
political satire, and, as such, makes for far better entertainment than the
daily newspaper."
The cast for this second installment was as
follows (pictured right are Don Gallo as Mr. Money Bags and Rich Kraemer as
Son Dis-Courage):
Bertolt Brecht . . . . . . . Keith Elkins
Britney Spears . . . . Jeanine Giffear
Mother Dis-Courage . . Kate Olena
Son Dis-Courage . . . Rich Kraemer
Mr. Moneybags . . . . Donald Gallo
George Orwell . . . Emanuel Fried*
John Lennon . . . . . . . Kevin Costa
Paul McCartney . . . Paul Wynecski
And so it's very exciting (and a
great relief) to at last get the chance to present this wild, topical,
off-the-wall extravaganza as full scale production. After all the
incarnations this play has been through, we're thrilled to have the chance to
take this piece on an international tour. It's also nice to welcome back
several of the actors who have taken part along the way including Keith Elkins
(who appeared in the second rendition) and Ryan O'Byrne (who was a part of the
world debut).
The cast for our upcoming rendition is as follows (pictured left is a
rehearsal photo of Keith Elkins as Bertolt Brecht and Sarah Orloff as Britney
Spears):
Bertolt Brecht . . . . . . . . . . . Keith Elkins
Britney Spears . . . . . . . . . . Sarah Orloff+
Mother Dis-Courage . . . Mary Moebius+
Son Dis-Courage . . . . . . Ryan O'Byrne+
Money Bag/McCartney . Jamie Hamilton+
Orwell/Lennon . . . . . . . . . . Michael Karr
+ = indicates members of the Subversive Theatre
Collective
* = indicates members of the Actors' Equity Association
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