Courasche

Courasche

by Hans J. C. von Grimmelshausen

We know her from Brecht, but the character of Courasche was actually conceived by Grimmelshausen during the Thirty Years’ War. With this character, he not only created the first female first-person narrator in German literature, but also a true wild card. Crude, unsparing, and with unshakable humor, she looks back on her life, recounting her rise and fall, her tenacious struggle for bare survival on battlefields and in marital beds. Many a man falls victim to both her sword and her lust.“A woman who slept with war to feed peace”—that’s how Günther Grass described her. Katharina Röther has adapted this 17th-century “picaresque novel” into a one-woman stage play.

“With bravura, the masterful comic actress transforms the famous literary figure into a feisty she-devil. Bottom line: open-air theater at its finest! Highly recommended!” (Hamburger Morgenpost)

“For an hour and a half, Katharina Röther—who also directed the production herself—captivates the audience with her intense performance. … The audience listens spellbound; the 17th century suddenly feels so close. And so entertaining!” (NDR)

“If you set aside the archaic language, you hear an old story that happens just like this—and hardly any differently—millions of times today, even in Europe. ” (Elbe-Jeetzel-Zeitung) Katharina Röther, a freelance actress, director, and instructor in Hamburg, was born in Prenzlau and grew up in Saxony. She got her first taste of theater at the puppet theaters in Chemnitz and Zwickau and then studied at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Rostock. After a stint at the Theater Plauen, her path took her via Berlin to Hamburg. Since 1999, she has been working here as a freelance actress, director, and instructor. She develops her own plays and performs throughout Germany.

www.rampenspiel.de