Die Freiheit einer Frau: Monique bricht aus

play

based on the novels by Édouard Louis
in the translations by Hinrich Schmidt-Henkel and Sonja Finck
In German language

The French star author Édouard Louis portrays his mother: the precarious circumstances of her class, how much she wants from life, how little she gets and how she finally manages to free herself from dependency and male violence. Growing up in the north of France, where people worked in factories until they closed 20 years ago, Monique's life seems to have been mapped out for her: she dropped out of school for the sake of her children, she is dependent on her husband and politically motivated poverty. Her son, Édouard Louis, began writing out of revenge - as a protest against class differences and invisibility. But his path to becoming a writer and his change of class were also an escape from his origins, the harsh tone of the village and not least from his family. In his stories "A Woman's Freedom" and "Monique Breaks Out", however, the author strikes an unusually tender note. He describes how his mother Monique frees herself from the dependencies and violent relationships into which she was repeatedly forced by her circumstances. Louis' also questions himself, his memories and his own role in his mother's life: the shame and anger in his childhood, the speechlessness over the years and the help he is finally able to offer her. What does a woman's freedom cost? And what role does a son play in the liberation or oppression of his mother? The director is Jan Friedrich, who was invited to the Berlin Theatertreffen with his work "Blutbuch" and already introduced himself to Mannheim audiences in 2017 with "Faust". For the first time, he combines both of Louis' texts to create a dense evening about the complex relationship between a son and his mother.