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The Public Theater, Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori will produce “Courage in Concert”, a one-night-only benefit concert reuniting Kevin Kline, Jenifer Lewis, Austin Pendleton, Meryl Streep and Frederick Weller for an evening of songs from the Public Theater’s 2006 Shakespeare in the Park production of Brecht’s masterpiece, Mother Courage and Her Children. Translated by Tony Kushner with music by Jeanine Tesori and originally directed by George C. Wolfe, “Courage in Concert” will be performed at the Public Theater on Monday, October 19 at 8:00 PM with all proceeds benefiting American Jewish World Service and Partners In Health. The cast of HAIR along with special guests will complete the evening. Tickets go on sale on Thursday, September 17.
I am delighted to reunite with my friends from Mother Courage to benefit two extraordinary organizations … Both American Jewish World Service and Partners In Heath are deeply inspiring in their profound efforts to alleviate poverty and disease around the world.
Meryl Streep
“When you work on or watch or read the plays of Bertolt Brecht you’re compelled to ask yourself questions about the relationship between art and the troubled world outside. These questions are complicated, have no easy answers,” said Tony Kushner. “Three summers ago, we presented Mother Courage and Her Children directed by George C. Wolfe and I think I can speak for everyone involved that the experience was thrilling, moving, and left many of us wanting to extend our encounter with this immense play and its provocations. Jeanine Tesori, Meryl Streep and I have been discussing putting together a concert version of the score as a benefit. Together we chose two groups whose work we admire enormously: American Jewish World Services and Partners In Health. Both AJWS and PIH insistently call attention not only to the needs of the poor but to the underlying causes of their poverty. The connection they forge between understanding and action is the connection at the heart of Brecht’s play.”
