Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
After the first performances of Mother Courage in Switzerland in 1941, during World War II, Brecht decided the title character was just too darn likeable. You know, people aren't supposed to like Mother Courage. She's not a hero. So, BB went and rewrote a few parts (e.g., Scene V) in order to toughen her up a bit. That produced the current edition of Mother Courage we use here. (From John Willett and Ralph Manheim's introduction to the Penguin Classics edition, xxxv.)
Wondering why Kattrin really doesn't speak? Word has it that Brecht first wrote the role for his wife, famous German actress Helene Weigel. They were living in exile in Sweden, and if the play had been performed there, she wouldn't have been able to speak the language. So, he made Kattrin mute. (From John Willett and Ralph Manheim's introduction to the Penguin Classics edition, xxx.)
One of Brecht's claims is that traditional Chinese theater makes extensive use of the alienation effect.
From (Bertolt Brecht, Trans./Ed. John Willett, Brecht on Theater: The Development of an Aesthetic, Hill and Wang (2001), 91.)
Always a bit touchy when it came to other people interpreting his plays, Brecht wrote extensive notes about how Mother Courage was to be staged and performed. You can find these in the Penguin Classics edition of Mother Courage (2007).