Warner and Shaw to Revive Mother Courage at London's National Theatre

By John Nathan
03 Jan 2008

Fiona Shaw
Fiona Shaw

London's National Theatre has confirmed to Playbill.com that director Deborah Warner and her long-time collaborator, actress Fiona Shaw, will return to the National Theatre with a production of Mother Courage.

According to a report in The New York Times, the production of Brecht's play is scheduled to open at the National in 2009.

National artistic director Nicholas Hytner is expected to confirm Warner's production on Jan. 16 during a press conference about the venue's forthcoming season.

Warner and Shaw's previous offering at the National include Beckett's Happy Days, which kicked off the National's 2007 season. The production arrives at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Harvey Theatre on Jan. 8 for a four-week season, and is followed by Rupert Goold's award-winning production of Macbeth starring Patrick Stewart.

Warner and Shaw also worked together at the National on The Powerbook (2002), adapted by Jeanette Winterson from her own novel. And, Warner's 2000 production of Medea, with Shaw in the title role, played both the West End and Broadway. Previous collaborations also include Warner's epic Barbican production of Julius Caesar.

The acclaimed partnership began in 1988, and their collaborations include Electra at the RSC, The Good Person of Sezuan, Richard II (featuring Shaw's gender- bending title role performance), Hedda Gabbler at The Abbey Theatre and Footfalls at the West End's Garrick Theatre. Other notable co-productions include The Waste Land, which premiered at Wilton's Music Hall in East London and toured worldwide, winning two Drama Desk Awards.