LIZ CUMMINS

IF you eat with the devil, bring a fire extinguisher advised Mother Courage in Liverpool Playhouse's updated Brecht, running until April 24.

In this imaginative reworking of the original, Nigeria's music and rhythmic language combined with an evocative set, transported us to a modern-day, war torn Nigeria and livened up a sometimes didactic script.

Mother Courage was written by German Bertolt Brecht after the Second World War and Oladipo Agboluaje's sympathetic adaption and translation resonated with all the same anti war themes.

Carmen Munroe as Mother Courage commanded the stage, while Ngozi, played by Ashley Miller, gave a mesmerizing performance as Mother Courage's unspeaking but acutely intelligent and equally headstrong daughter.

War still ravages the 21st century world and as fear of terror attacks in the West become commonplace, this 20th century play is well worth experiencing.