MATER DOLOROSA deals with the myths about motherhood, pregnancy and family, with a spotlight on a new counter-figure: the surrogate mother.
»We believe, that the radical potential of the wordMOTHER comes after the M: other. It is the space that OTHER takes in our mouths when we say it. We are M_others, trying to m_other ourselves«
(after Alexis Pauline Gumbs)
The history of the Mater Dolorosa girls school in the premises of today's neumarkt theater goes back to the 19th century: a disciplinary institution in which young women were trained into the roles of unpaid reproduction workers and wives assigned to them in the capitalist division of labor. For several decades, however, the Mater Dolorosa has served the m_others as a place of refuge: apart from the nuclear family, the 'violators of the parenting norm' are born here, form a queer-feminist DIY underground clinic, a witches' association and exchange practices and knowledge around parenting, pregnancies, abortions, herbal birth control, and self-examinations. This fragile ecosystem suddenly threatens to spiral out of control when one of the m_others comes up with a plan to transform the mater dolorosa into a surrogate mother cooperative. The audience is invited to visit the Mater Dolorosa as a novice where they will come into personal contact with the m_others, learn and share knowledge in small groups, observe their rituals and have the choice to join them - m_others of all genders unite!
With terms, quotes, and nourished by inspiration from silvia federici, alexis pauline gumbs, audre lourde, sophie lewis, amrita pande, witch, dipetsa, deirdre cooper owens, leslie jamison, mathilde cohen, and warsan shire.
PREMIERE: September 2021
MIMIKRY - THEATER NEUMARKT