"Ms. Lewis’s commanding performance would be impressive under any circumstances, but the drama surrounding her undertaking the part makes the achievement all the more remarkable...Mr. Kulick’s searing production sets the play in the 1990s in both the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo. It is an inspired idea."
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"It is weirdly enervated and unambitious, achieving the coolness and flatness and lack of surprise that Brecht calls for but not, except at a few points, the lively horror to counter it...The staging is muddy. And while it is unreasonable to judge Kecia Lewis after just a handful of performances — she’s still learning the blocking and occasionally calling for lines — there’s no getting around the fact that, with one exception, the rest of the cast is hardly more comfortable with the material."
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"Still calling for line cues and sometimes reading from the script at a critics’ performance, Lewis nevertheless was mesmerizing as a woman addicted to survival yet able to reveal a beating heart at moments that make Brecht’s text less didactic than it often is thought to be...Duncan Sheik has written some sinuously beautiful music for the songs Brecht wrote for the play...Kulick’s conception is sound and the cast surrounding Lewis is impeccable."
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"Kecia Lewis is a brave actress. Whether she’s a good one or not is unclear from 'Mother Courage and Her Children.' It’s impossible to tell since Lewis is clearly still finding her way in the role...Lewis has an intense gaze she uses well, but seeing a script with highlighted lines will take you out of a performance. And at this point her 'Mother Courage' was mostly about decibel level; adding volume doesn’t add dimension."
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"The contemporized setting is intriguing. But on the whole, the production is undeveloped and unfocused. The musical interludes, which use prerecorded pop music by Duncan Sheik, are out of synch with Brecht’s lyrics and come off as baffling. Lewis, who was still holding a script and calling out for lines at my performance, is still finding her way in the role, but she has moments of great authority. In any case, Lewis deserves credit for stepping in on short notice."
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"Lewis provides the production with its singular bright spot...Here's the thing: It doesn't matter. Kulick has so wildly misconceived everything that Lewis's participation, valiant though it may be, is functionally meaningless...It's a Cliffs Notes, third-hand retelling of a plot synopsis of it that's playing dress-up as either Lynn Nottage's Pulitzer Prize–winning 'Ruined' or Danai Gurira's soon-to-hit-Broadway 'Eclipsed.''
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"Kecia Lewis is not yet in command of all her lines; but she is offering a resolute sketch of the formidable 'Mother Courage' she's capable of creating...Kulick's version achieves a unity of style and purpose among its actors, and that's the chief virtue of what's on view at CSC...Kulick's production has an alienating effect that Brecht couldn't foresee: a leading performer forced by circumstances to rely on a script and call out for prompts."
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"Despite all other elements of the play being fundamentally African, the songs sound like a mix of light country, new age and Broadway light. They are so glaringly out of place as to make one wonder if one has dozed off and awoken in a different theater...Ultimately, nothing could rescue the stilted course of this 'Mother Courage' production. And that’s a shame...A turbulent production that still hasn’t quite made up its mind."
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