Review Roundup: CSC's MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN Opens Off-Broadway

Classic Stage Company's Mother Courage and Her Children officially opens tonight, January 19, starring Kecia Lewis in the title role after Tony winner Tonya Pinkins' departure during previews. Brian Kulick directs the production, which features original music by Tony winner Duncan Sheik.

The cast of MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN also includes Joshua Boone, Curtiss Cook Jr., Jamil A. C. Mangan, Kevin Mambo, Jacob Ming-Trent, Geoffrey Owens, Michael Potts, Deandre Sevon, Mirirai Sithole and Zenzi Williams.

CSC continues its exploration of Bertolt Brecht with a look at his most famous play. The indomitable Mother Courage follows one luckless army after another across a war-torn world in her canteen wagon. She'll do anything to hold onto her money-making wagon, even if it means the loss of her children. Experience a timeless tale of war updated to the modern-day conflagration in the Congo.

Let's see what the critics had to say...

Charles Isherwood, The New York Times: Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage doesn't fit the mold of a conventional heroine, or even the mold of a conventional antiheroine. But Kecia Lewis, who plays the role in the Classic Stage Company's terrific production of "Mother Courage and Her Children," certainly deserves some sort of badge of honor. Ms. Lewis's commanding performance would be impressive under any circumstances, but the drama surrounding her undertaking the part makes the achievement all the more remarkable...Ms. Lewis's rendering of her complex character...was so powerful, complex and persuasive...Several of Classic Stage's Brecht productions have included new music by Duncan Sheik ("Spring Awakening"), and Ms. Lewis performs his seductive, African-inspired songs in a powerful voice, by turns scathing, lyrical and mournful.

Robert Kahn, NBC New York: Few of us are privy to changes that may have been made behind the scenes in the intervening few weeks, but I found the "Mother Courage" that finally opens tonight at CSC...to be a realistic story of an opportunistic woman trying to balance the needs of her family against the unknowable travails of life in wartime. Broadway actress Kecia Lewis...certainly doesn't read as "delusional." "Delusional" is the word Pinkins and Kulick hit an impasse over...Lewis...is, rather, frantic and resigned, yet somehow still hopeful she will find safety in an environment where it can't possibly be found...What I saw, beyond that issue, was a performer of tremendous confidence, taking on a role with a sharp perspective on her character...Lewis, with her performance, exhibits a hardness few mothers could muster. More than anything, she's a realist. A powerless realist.

Matt Windman, AM New York: The contemporized setting is intriguing. But on the whole, the production is undeveloped and unfocused. The musical interludes, which use prerecorded pop music by Duncan Sheik, are out of synch with Brecht's lyrics and come off as baffling. Lewis, who was still holding a script and calling out for lines at my performance, is still finding her way in the role, but she has moments of great authority. In any case, Lewis deserves credit for stepping in on short notice. Among the ensemble cast are Michael Potts, who gives a fully-developed performance as the chaplain who sticks by Mother Courage, and Mirirai Sithole, who is quite moving as mute daughter Kattrin.

Jeremy Gerard, Deadline: Still calling for line cues and sometimes reading from the script at a critics' performance, Lewis was nevertheless mesmerizing as a woman addicted to survival yet able to reveal a beating heart at moments that make Brecht's text less didactic than it often is thought to be. It's hardly an afterthought to add that Duncan Sheik...has written some sinuously beautiful music for the songs Brecht wrote for the play...Kulick's conception is sound and the cast surrounding Lewis is impeccable. Particularly noteworthy are the three children...It's Lewis, however, who has turned an almost impossible situation not only to her own advantage but to the credit of the company, pushing on nobly through what I would call a necessary crisis.

Be sure to check back for updates!