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Overview

Synopsis

In the years preceding the Russian revolution, a poor woman, Pelagea Vlassova, worries for her son, Pavel. Pavel has fallen in with a bad crowd: a revolutionary group, distributing pamphlets in favor of unionisation. The group has printed 500 pamphlets in Pelagea’s living room, and it’s Pavel’s turn to distribute them. Pelagea - fearing for her son’s safety - offers to distribute the pamphlets on his behalf. As she hands out the pamphlets advocating for a worker strike, Pelagea sees the deplorable conditions of the factory, and comes to realize that the workers she thought were ruffians are right to fight the powers that be. On May Day, Pelagea attends a protest with the workers, and watches her son be arrested. To avoid arrest herself, she is forced into hiding in the home of a schoolmaster, who teaches her how to read, and accidentally refines her views on Marxism. Pelagea then takes up the flag of the worker, and begins to print and deliver pamphlets to farms and factories throughout the countryside, using her warmth and logic to bring both land-owners and laborers to the side of communism and becoming a folk-hero known as “The Mother.”

The most elaborate of Brecht’s Lehrstücke or “learning plays,” this poetic examination of the morality of communism and the fall of capitalism in 20th century Russia was based on Maxim Gorsky’s novel by the same name. Like many of Brecht’s plays, it includes a number of “songs” with no fixed arrangement that can be used or removed at the director’s discretion.

Show Information

Based on the Play/Book/Film
The Mother - Maxim Gorsky
Category
Play
Age Guidance
Thirteen Plus (PG-13)
Number of Acts
1
First Produced
1932
Genres
Drama
Settings
Contemporary
Time & Place
20th C. Russia
Cast Size
large
Orchestra Size
None
Dancing
None
Ideal For
College/University, Large Cast, Professional Theatre, Regional Theatre, Mostly Male Cast, Includes Mature Adult, Elderly, Young Adult, Adult Characters

Context

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Plot

Characters

Name Part Size Gender Vocal Part

Pelagea Vlassova

Lead

Female

Non-singer

Pavel Vlassov

Supporting

Male

Non-singer

Workers in the Suchlinov Factory (3)

Supporting

Male

Non-singer

Nikolai Vessovchikov

Supporting

Male

Non-singer

Masha Khalatova

Featured

Female

Non-singer

Inspector

Featured

Male

Non-singer

Karpov

Featured

Male

Non-singer

Smilgin

Featured

Male

Non-singer

Sostakovich

Featured

Male

Non-singer

Yegor Lushin

Featured

Male

Non-singer

Vassil Yefimovich

Featured

Male

Non-singer

Landlady

Featured

Female

Non-singer

Policeman

Ensemble

Male

Non-singer

Factory guard/gatekeeper/workers/strike breakers (2)

Ensemble

Male

Non-singer

Women/maidservant/storekeeper/peasant woman/workers (2)

Ensemble

Female

Non-singer

Warden

Ensemble

Male

Non-singer

Butcher's Wife

Ensemble

Female

Non-singer

Doctor

Ensemble

Male

Non-singer

Songs

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A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.

Monologues

All monologues are the property and copyright of their owners.. Monologues are presented on StageAgent for educational purposes only. If you would like to give a public performance of this monologue, please obtain authorization from the appropriate licensor.

Scenes

All scenes are the property and copyright of their owners. Scenes are presented on StageAgent for educational purposes only. If you would like to give a public performance of this scene, please obtain authorization from the appropriate licensor.

Key Terms

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Videos

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Quizzes

Themes, Symbols & Motifs

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Quote Analysis

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