Geography: Europe > Western Europe > France
Year: 2024
Produced by: Chorus of Women Foundation; co-produced and internationally presented with Maxim Gorki Theater and European festival partners
Creative Team: Conceived and directed by Marta Górnicka; libretto by Górnicka and the Chorus of Women; composition by Górnicka and Wojciech Frycz.
Synopsis: Mothers – A Song for Wartime assembles women from Ukraine, Belarus and Poland, including people displaced after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The performers use Ukrainian ritual songs alongside statements about war and escape. Through traditional singing, the production examines how mothers are expected to protect children when military violence has made protection impossible. By bringing displaced women onto a major European festival stage, Mothers places lived testimony inside an established theatrical institution without disguising the differences between its participants. The chorus creates solidarity while allowing individual histories to remain distinct.
Source: Festival d’Avignon, French production listing: https://festival-avignon.com/en/edition-2024/programme/mothers-348549 Maxim Gorki Theater, production page and creative background: https://www.gorki.de/en/mothers-a-song-for-wartime