The Mother, by Bertolt Brecht (Half Moon Theatre, 27 Alic. Street, London E.l. to 26 May)/Nick Adams Apparently, Brecht kept a tay donkey on his desk with a notice around its neck saying "Even I must understand it' The donkey might have had trouble with The Caucasian Chalk Circle (shown on BBC 2 a couple of weeks ago) but The Mother would have been no problem. The play opens in 1905 in Tsarist Russia, A middle-aged woman is drawn into political activity initially only to help her son in the danger. ous tasks he has to do. However once involved she grows in political stature and we follow her life right through to October 1917. The only other character Brecht presents in any detail is the intellectual schoolteacher who finds Marxism 'interesting but full of holes'. He too is drawn into revolutionary politics but patheticBrecht's main emphasis in The Morher is on the need for the working class to go beyond the trade union struggle in the factory and confront the whole social order - the government, the army, etc. Many scenes show the necessity to fight for more than just another kopek the need for solidarity, the need to confront the violence of the State - and a very important soone explains why it is necessary to take a deleatist position on imperialist wat. If there is a weakness in the play it is not one of historical inaccuracies, still less a lack of character portrayal, but in its vagueness as to what the poition struggle should consist of.
For example, on the question of the State Brecht uses several curlous formulations like 'Take the State and turn the whole thing upside down', or "Take power in the State". He лоwhere specifies actually smashing the State and only refers in passing to the need for the workers to organise their own armed forces. In calling for more than the trade union strugele dancer of being tarred with the same brush. their political Integrity questioned and the possibility of their credibility with other revolutionary organisa. Tions tarnished, As this element now salim to constitute the lendership of that organisation we feel it our duty as revolutionaries to point out to the Republican Socialist Movement tha degeneracy of that collection of individuss. 12) Furthermore these people have not alone been al ends but have gone so far as to interfere with the and-imperast struggie in ireland by taing narassmens and bully-boy tactice against life lone members and supporters of the Republican Movement. As has been stated in numerous press artices a doud of mystery still hangs over the brutal murder of a sinств апо десто гомониютигу, гетег оголать Іл October 1971. Sear Eire once operated as a sincere revalutionary organisation, For us, it does no mare. In conclusion we again wish to reaffirm our allegiarice to the establishment of a Democratic Workers Republic in ireland and pledge our support to the revolutionary Torpes who are struge ing to attsin it. Martin Casey (Dublin) Eugene Norrby (Derry) Sean Morrissay (Tipperary) Paddy Dillon (Dublin) Joseph Dilion (Dublin) Donal Dineen (Cork! Donal D Laoghair (Cork] Danny MeOwen (Dublin).
LEEDS CONFERENCE ON THE FAMILY I would like to correct two points made in the report "The Family. Mary Sheen as the mother and, Jeft to right, Alex Leppard as her son, Robin Summers as Andrei Nakhodka, Geoffrey Wükinson as Anton Rubin and Kevin Costello as /wan Vesovchikor, (Photo: Peter Harrap, Report)
Brecht relies on rather abstract notions of solidarity, the fight for socialism, why communism is "just"', ete.
Brecht was not concerned with writing good 1. To say the 'revolutionary socialist position was almost exclusively represented by IMG and its sup porters is in my view incorrect and sectarian. Very many of the 400 who attended that conference do situate the problem of women's oppression and analysis ni the tamulvin a cinss context 1R attemptro work from an understanding of da society and the conflict of class interests to an understanding of che family and the oppression of women, They aise, on the besis of this, understand and accept the need to work for the revolutionary overthrow at capitalist society and sen the struggle against the oppression of a revolutionary socialist is sectarian. 2. The Genotdet was not, so far as l am aware, the SOUND COT CT ROOMERS LOSTATIOn MOVEMEnT ELI rather part of the party apparatus which took respon sibility for organising and devioping work with and on questions resung to women.
What I think ves important about the conference, which the report did not go into, was that it represenco on increasing awar goose whit a section o women's liberation of the need to clarify its analysis and positions within a socielist framework. It followed on from the birmingham conterence ce Sexism and Capitalism, and hopefully is only one of a series of such conferences.
The maunment dom not and cinnet desaloo in hole tion from the economic and social crisis, the class struggle, the revolutionary strugg'e, The discussion in Lends. particularly in the workshoos, indicated ar increasing awareness of this tact within a large and Linde Smith literature for its own sake but in using the medium of the theatre for political ends, Criticism of his work must take as its starting point the plays' politics. As to the form of The Mother its simplicity is in some ways preferuble to Brecht's later plays, precisely because the politics of the play are so clear. But more important in the context in which The Morker is being shown.
TAKEN OVER The Half-Moon Theatre has heen quite ancoessful in the past in building up a local working class audience. However for The Mother the theatre has been taken over by the 'theatregoers' of central London since the play receised good revie us in the national press. On the night I went there was hardly a worker in the place, there were even the duloet tones of mid-west America to be beard, and when someone in the audience asked for a discussion at the end of the play the actors were on their way to the pub and the audience were very hostile - after all, didn't they come to be 'entertained' and anyway who wants to talk about the Russian revolution, it's all past history now, isn't it?
If anybody is serious abour using the theatre politically it is not enough just to do the right plays, they have got to be seen by the right peaple. If the working class won't go to the tbeatre (which is hardly surprising since as an institution it is openly class-ridden in favour of the bourgeoisie), the theatre must be taken to the class - trade union schools, meetings, conferences, etc. in this context this production of The Mother would have been an effective piece of agitational theatre.