Desiree Abeyta portrays Kattrin, left, Barbara Tarbuck is Mother Courage and Rusty N. Tennant plays Swiss Cheese in the Nevada Conservatory Theatre production of the Bertolt Brecht play "Mother Courage and Her Children." Photo by Ralph Fountain.

Bertolt Brecht's "Mother Courage and Her Children" was written in the 1930s, but it never seems to go out of fashion, especially when there's a war on.

"It's incredibly timely as an anti-war piece," says Barbara Tarbuck, the actress who plays the title role in the Nevada Conservatory Theatre production opening today in the Black Box Theatre at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

In fact, Brecht wrote "Mother Courage" in 1938 and 1939, on the eve of World War II.

"It's almost 70 years old and it still seems relevant," says the play's award-winning director, Robert Benedetti. "It has had a pretty big revival nationally, and internationally, after the war in Iraq."

The play's relevance is apparent from the first scene, in which a recruiter attempts to enlist one of Mother Courage's children in the military.

Set in 1624, in the midst of the Thirty Years' War, Mother Courage makes a living off the long religious conflict in order to take care of her mute daughter, Kattrin, and her sons, Eilif and Swiss Cheese. Desiree Abeyta, Cristian Bell, and Rusty N. Tennant play the children. Others in the cast include Kathryn Percival, Steven Fehr, Steve Rapella, Kyle Van Son, Gilbert Cleveland, Robert Hamilton, Robert Howard and Alex Homes.

From an actor's point of view, Tarbuck says she can't look at Mother Courage "in any villainous way. She's caught up in a nightmare, she's just trying to get by."

"It's an enormous role," she says. "I haven't done a play in quite a long time. Meaty roles don't always come along. It's a role that will make me stronger."

Brecht used several techniques that force the audience to distance itself from the characters in order to not get caught up in sentimentality, says Benedetti, an Emmy-winning producer and screenwriter.

"The audience is expected to enter into the debate of the play and pass judgment on the evidence. It's not that we're not moved, but we're moved to render a judgment of our own on the characters."

Brecht created what he called Epic Theater, which "tells us a story about something that's already happened," Benedetti says. " 'Mother Courage' is in a picaresque form, it's the story of a journey. Brecht reveals to us his point of view gradually throughout the evening."

Benedetti has never directed "Mother Courage" before, but it's been on his wish list. "Doing it for the first time is a great growth experience as a director, it's a play you get to check yourself against."

The director chose a translation by Ralph Mannheim for the production and a score by Paul Dessau, directed by Kyle Norris. The set and costumes were designed by guest artist David Utley, and Michelle Warner designed the lighting.

One of Brecht's techniques was to break the "fourth wall," the line separating the audience from the actors, by having his actors acknowledge the audience's presence, even addressing them directly.

With the three-sided configuration of the seating at the Black Box Theatre, Benedetti and company are further erasing that imaginary wall.

Because of the audience's closeness to the action "our production is more emotional than usual," Benedetti says. "It has more personal directness."

It's also shorter, less than two hours long. "I have found other productions to be overblown by today's standards," Benedetti says. "I prefer more intense and concentrated plays."