*Due to high demand there will be TWO performances of the play. The first at 5 p.m. and the second at 8 p.m. The event is free with RSVP. Seats will be given away on a first-come, first-served basis.

The negotiation of truth is worked out with laconic wit, but above all serves to make the horror behind the story bearable. This production is wonderful - precise, tender, touching. Big applause.

– Anja Witzke, Theatre Critic, Germany

George Tabori’s intimate two-character play “My Mother’s Courage” is shown for the first time in Los Angeles! Tabori, a Hungarian Jew, moved 1947 to Los Angeles where he became a script writer and part of the exile literary scene that met regularly at Lion Feuchtwanger’s home. Brecht was among them who inspired Tabori towards the theater. 

George Tabori’s homage to his mother is, by extension, homage to all mothers whose courage, wit, and will to live gave their children the opportunity to come to terms with their own trauma. The ripple effects of the European cataclysms of the 20th century that destroyed generations are felt this very day, and the play is as relevant now with the world reeling in wars of aggression. The play was written in 1971 when he returned to Germany and premiered in 1979 at the Kammerspiele in Munich under Tabori’s own direction. While George Tabori’s works revolve around such issues as racism, Nazism, the Holocaust, and genocide, he uses satire, bold humor, and Brechtian theatrical techniques to sharpen the horrific absurdity of these political excrescences.

This production is a guest performance by the Staatstheater Kassel.

Actors

Sigrun Schneider-Kaethner, born in Posen and raised in Berlin, completed her training as an actor at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Berlin. This was followed by engagements in Germany and Switzerland as well as touring theater guest performances in Scandinavia, Italy and Israel. Among others, she played in "Jacke wie Hose" (M. Karge) and "Kassandra" by Christa Wolf (authorized self-interpretation). Since 1995 she has appeared on stage with Thomas Bockelmann in "My Mother's Courage" by George Tabori. Schneider-Kaethner lives by Max Reinhardt's motto: "The actor is a person who has put his childhood in his pocket in order to keep on playing".

Thomas Bockelmann is a German actor and theater director born in Lüneburg and raised in Frankfurt. He was the artistic director of the Staatstheater Kassel for almost 20 years and directed over 80 plays. His production of My Mother's Courage by George Tabori has been performed more than 150 times. In 2022 it had its American premiere at the Torn Page Theater New York.