Is motherhood a desire? Whose desire? Is procreation a job? What would happen if we went on a womb strike?

In 2021, the right to decide when and how to become a mother is a contested right. In many places, people are fighting for legal abortion, while in some places where it is already legal, people want to reverse the law. Discourse is polarised around the low birth rate, the possibilities of assisted fertilisation, the legalisation of surrogacy, adoption by single people and homosexual couples. A real political battle is being fought on the frontline of procreation.

MOTHER TONGUE is an encyclopaedia of reproduction in the twenty-first century, written from the stories of migrant mothers, trans mothers and fathers, heterosexual mothers who resorted to assisted fertilisation, lesbian mothers, gay fathers with children, teenage mothers, women who had abortions, women who adopted, women who do not want to have children and many others who wonder how to reinvent the word mother.

In a hybrid space between a library and a cabinet of curiosities, where documents, films and music are shared, the performers reconstruct the past and discuss the future.

MOTHER TONGUE takes place in different places around the world with different communities as a mobile laboratory. The first edition of the play was produced by ERT Emilia Romagna Teatro and had its opening at Teatro Arena del Sole (Bologna) in 2021. The second edition was co-produced by Centro Dramático Nacional (Madrid) and Teatre Lliure (Barcelona) and premiered in Madrid in 2022. The third edition was be produced by Maxim-Gorki Theater (Berlin).

PRENSA (Madrid)
PRENSA (Bologna)

Credits BERLIN

DIRECTION AND SCRIPT Lola Arias
WITH Ufuk Tan Altunkaya, Cochon de Cauchemar, Kay Garnellen, Alice Gedamu, Millay Hyatt, Nyemba M'Membe and Sandra Ruffin
WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF Leisa Prowd
TRANSLATION, DRAMATURGY AND PRODUCTION LOLA ARIAS COMPANY Laura Cecilia Nicolas, Bibiana Picado Mendes
SCENERY AND COSTUME DESIGN Mariana Tirantte
VIDEO AND LIGHTS Matías Iaccarino
MUSIC Meike Clarelli, Davide Fasulo
CHOIR DIRECTION Meike Clarelli, Doreen Kutzke
CHOREOGRAPHY Luciana Acuna
DRAMATURGY MAXIM-GORKI THEATER Johannes Kirsten, Edona Kryeziu
CASTING AND RESEARCH Bibiana Picado Mendes
VOCAL TRAINING Deborah Ziegler
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Yannik Mersch
VIDEO ASSISTANT Miranda Barrón Quinteros
SET DESIGN ASSISTANT Una Jankov
CLOTHING ASSISTANT Lenna Stam

Credits MADRID

Credits BolOGnA

Direction And Text Lola Arias
With Donatella Allegro, Marzia Bisognin, Chiara Bodini, Egon Botteghi, Giovanni D’Alessandro, Eloisa Gatto, Florette Zengue, Martina Zucchini and the collaboration of Angela Balzano in the artistic process
Set & COsTUMES Mariana Tirantte
VIDEO & LIGHTS Matías Iaccarino
CHOIR DIRECTION Meike Clarelli
MUSIC Meike Clarelli, Davide Fasulo
Choreography Luciana Acuña
Dramaturgy Piersandra Di Matteo
Research And Casting Cosetta Nicolini, Piersandra Di Matteo
Research COLLABORATION Marina Mariasch
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR &
PRODUCTION LOLA ARIaS COMPANY Laura Cecilia Nicolás
Translation Teresa Vila