What I liked
Rosie and Hailey should receive millions of dollars in grant money to make whatever they want together forever. It’s the sort of creative partnership that crackles with energy, each challenging the other to greater and greater heights. Top to bottom, each artistic component is so well thought out and effective: the writing poignant, the direction captivating, the performance nuanced, and so on and so forth.
Really, Mother Courage is the perfect play to adapt in our current times and And Her Children excellently draws on the heightening and juxtapositioning of the original themes and characters to devastating effect. One mustn’t dwell too much on the adaptational aspects, however, as And Her Children is filled to the brim with enough originality and new insight as to fill several full-length plays.
It’s a complicated show that provokes complicated feelings, challenging you to stretch the boundaries of your empathy and understanding in a world that feels actively hostile to both. And Her Children is ultimately a pretty bleak affair, yet is also, most importantly, so human.
What I didn't like
The blonde wig needs to be disposed of in a volcano like the One Ring once the run ends. It might actually be pure evil and I fear for Hailey’s sanity.
My overall impression
I’ve been putting off writing this review because, even several days after watching this performance, I still find myself grappling and coming to terms with what all transpired in this ambitious modern adaptation of Mother Courage. So yeah, it’s pretty great, I guess.
