Did you know that Bertolt Brecht's play Mother Courage has been performed at the National Theatre in Addis Ababa since 2019? If you haven’t yet attended, we highly recommend you do so soon. Experiencing Mother Courage in an Ethiopian context is extraordinary.
The director of the National Theatre, Manyazewal Endeshaw, is responsible for both the Amharic adaptation and the staging of the play. It is performed every Sunday at 6:00 p.m. and has attracted a large audience since its premiere. Tickets can be purchased at the theatre's counter for 80 Birr per person
Ethiopian National Theater.
Between 1985 and 1988, Manyazewal Endeshaw pursued a master's degree in theatre studies at Humboldt University. In 2017, at the invitation of the Goethe-Institut, he participated in the 18th International Translators' Workshop in Mülheim, where the idea of translating Mother Courage into Amharic was born.
Manyazewal has directed more than twenty theatre productions, including works he has translated himself, such as plays by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Georg Büchner, Max Frisch, and Arthur Schnitzler. His 35mm short film The Father was produced by M-Net, and his work ENGIDA: The Guest was published in the UK in the collection African Theatre: Six Plays from East & West Africa. He has been the director of the National Theatre of Ethiopia since 2019.
In 2025, audiences in Addis Ababa will also have the chance to experience another of Brecht’s works in Amharic: The Caucasian Chalk Circle. Manyazewal is currently working on this production alongside dramaturg and Brecht expert Dr. Laura Olivi, who visited Addis Ababa in December 2024 to help prepare the show.
Dr. Olivi teaches at the Institute for Theatre Studies at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich and leads the pilot project Autor:innenwerkstatt für Drama und Libretto. She has also worked as a dramaturg at Munich’s Münchner Kammerspiele and Residenztheater, among others.
Manyazewal explains his motivation for staging The Caucasian Chalk Circle now, saying, "During my master's degree in Germany, I had the opportunity to see a performance of Bertolt Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle. I recall it now and believe it has a direct connection to our current situation."
The premiere is scheduled for fall 2025 at the National Theatre in Addis Ababa.
Deutsche Biographie - Brecht, Bertolt
Literatur: Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht Biography
Why is Bertolt Brecht still important?
Mother Courage and her children
Tsegaye's Mother Courage
Tsegaye Gebremedhin
Manyazewal's Mother Courage
Manyazewal Endeshaw
The Caucasian chalk circle
Dr. Laura Olivi
Brecht at Addis Ababa University
Brecht's works in the Onleihe
Brecht's works in our library
