(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- Mothermotherland, created by Slovo. Theater Group, has two free performances in New Brunswick (October 26 and October 29). This is an original devised theater performance developed over 5 weeks by Ukrainians in exile with playwright Audrey Rose Dégez. The performance is based on the artists’ personal experiences, the war in Ukraine, and takes inspiration from Mykoly Khyvylovy’s 1924 novella I am (a Romantic), where the head of the local Cheka, a communist law enforcement agency, must decide whether or not to sentence his mother to death in the name of the ideals of the Commune.
In Khyvylovy’s 1924 novella “I am (a Romantic),” the head of the local Cheka, a communist law enforcement agency, must decide whether or not to sentence his mother to death in the name of the ideals of the Commune. Pittsburgh-born and Paris-based playwright Audrey Rose Dégez applied to residency Slovo, an artistic residency in Kharkiv, where Khyvylovy lived, worked, and ultimately committed suicide, as a protest against Soviet extermination of Ukrainian artists and intellectuals in 1933. Her project proposal was to write and workshop an original work based on his work and around the topic of “Motherland.”
The Russian invasion of February 24th rendered the original project idea impossible, but through the generosity of a large number of private and institution supporters, Audrey Rose was able to bring the project to the United States. On July 13th, she left her home and husband Louis in France and returned to her Motherland with her 6-month old daughter Lili Maritchka to prepare for the project. On August 14th, she was joined by Daria Holovchanska, Yuliia Linnik, Maksym Panchenko, Olesia Zakharova, and Veronika Shuster in Pittsburgh and over the last 5 weeks the group has been devising the performance that you will witness tonight.
Performances take place Wednesday, October 26 at 7:30pm at Shindell Choral Hall at Martinson Hall on the Rutgers University-New Brunswick Douglass Campus (85 George Street, New Brunswick, NJ. This performance is co-presented by coLAB Arts and Mason Gross School of the Arts. And Saturday, October 29 at 3:00pm at coLAB Arts (9 Bayard Street, New Brunswick, NJ). Both performances are free, but registration is required for the October 29th performance. Advance registration is not available for the Wednesday, 10/26 performance at Rutgers. Attendees are encouraged to arrive early to secure seating.
coLab Arts will be collecting warm clothes, jackets, and medical kits at each performance to support the Ukrainian war effort.
coLAB Arts engages artists, social advocates, and communities to create transformative new work.
coLAB Arts facilitates creative conversation through innovative programs and artist infrastructure, connects artists with community partners and mentors, and executes productions that challenge perceptions and inspire action.
coLAB Arts generates community-powered projects and seeks to create an art scene using new and established spaces. Its work takes place in community rooms, houses of worship, parking lots, schools, bars, and backyards. A “let’s get it done” work ethic and flair for mischief colors coLAB Arts’ aesthetic and an emphasis on community engagement and professional development defines its commitment to the arts.
coLAB Arts believes that artistic expression is civic engagement and that collaboration is an active and creative process. coLAB Arts draws energy and inspiration from working with emerging artists and finding new platforms and audiences for established creative voices. coLAB Arts engages communities to ask questions, develop relationships, and come together to create new work across socio-economic, ethnic, and generational lines.
