Marta Górnicka, Mothers – A Song for Wartime

In the organizer's words:

In August 2023, Polish director Marta Górnicka showed a preview of "Mothers" for the first time at the Cour du Musee Calvet in Avignon, deeply shocking the festival audience. On her return to Avignon in 2024, 6,000 spectators acclaimed the performance. 21 women aged between 9 and 72 from Ukraine, Belarus and Poland unite their voices in an outcry against Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. The premiere of "Mothers - A Song for Wartime" took place at the Teatr Powszechny in Warsaw, the German premiere at the Maxim Gorki Theater Berlin. This was followed by many guest performances throughout Europe.

In "Mothers", Górnicka and her ensemble use concentrated, collective vocal power and plenty of warmth, solidarity and poetry against the inhumanity of this and every other war in the world. The performance, which has lost none of its oppressive topicality, begins with a Shchedrivka (Ukrainian: щедрівка) - a traditional Ukrainian song wishing for happiness and rebirth. Marta Górnicka conducts the choir from the audience, creating a lively connection with the singers. The traditional songs are interspersed with nursery rhymes, incantations and political commentary.