MATERNITY

Crossroads

The Maladype Theatre launched its “Crossroads” project in 2011. The program’s main goal is to present artistic directions, theatres and workshops that represent new trends in cultural life, enhance new artistic initiatives, help in establishing new ways of contacts with the audience and foster ties among different countries. That way the European independent theatres are given the possibility to cooperate and establish a network that helps them in creating new meeting points for dialogue and interaction.

The Maladype Theatre has benefited a lot from its international ties: by establishing them it has the possibility to get acquainted with various theatrical troupes, traditions and institutions. We consider our important task also to present new trends, and young talents to our spectators. We invite theatres and performances that can adapt easily themselves to our location and technical conditions.

The contemporary Israeli work Maternity deals with the fate of children who have disappeared and are still in unknown places and the mothers who search for them. After the establishment of the State of Israel and later in the 1950s, thousands of babies disappeared from newly immigrated families placed in refugee camps. Two-thirds of the parents of the missing children immigrated to Israel from Yemen. The performance "Maternity" presents the long-term ordeal of the parents of kidnapped children, as well as the connections between their tragedy and the fate of today's women and mothers. "Phenomenal and striking performances shape this documentary theater into a deep artistic experience." (Rutie Stern, Haokets, Israeli magazine)

Three actresses (who are also mothers in real life) present on stage the painful process of giving birth and how nothing is left for them afterwards. No baby. There is no one they can hug one more time, for the last time, there is no crying life next to them.

Three brave women - Selly Arkadash, Moria Beshari Lipshitz and Eden Uliel - use poetry, sounds and movements to reveal their feelings and uncover the background of the obscure case. The performance was partly based on Iris Eliya Cohen's poem and partly based on authentic materials, testimonies of women, mothers and their grandchildren. Some testimonies were found in the Israel State Archives. Other confessions have personal implications. One actress, for example, heard the story from her own grandmother and father.

Founded by Hana Vazana-Grunwald and operating for ten years, the Frechot Ensemble is an all-female troupe whose members pursue their craft with passion. Their performances focus primarily on the world of ordinary people. Their chosen topics hold up a mirror to society, examine the dynamics of power, and give significance to seemingly insignificant moments. At the heart of their work is the search for a theatrical language that can adequately express the essence of various identities: “Mizrahi identity” (Middle Eastern Jews), gender identity, feminism, social situation, ethnicity.

The performance was a great success in 2022 in Scotland at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and in 2023 in Italy at the Sala Futura di Catania.

MOTHERHOOD - performed by the Frechot Ensemble (Tel-Aviv, Israel)
Within the framework of the 10th Theater Olympics, organized by the Maladype Theatre.

Based on the poems of Iris Eliya Cohen
in English, with Hungarian subtitles
English translation: Natalie Fainstein

Director: Hana Vazana-Grunwald

Played by: Selly Arkadash, Moria Beshari Lipshitz, Eden Uliel
Archive texts, playwright: Racheli Said
Set and costume designer: Frida Shoham
Choreographer: Shira Eviatar
Lighting designer: Nadav Barnea
Music: Avigail Arad
Music director: Naama Perel-Tzadok
Assistant costume designer: Noa Bendahan
Art consultant: Avi Gibson Barel
Assistant director: Noa Ben-Ari
Production manager: Avital Michel-Meyer

Duration of the performance: 60 minutes

Recommended for audiences over 16!

Place and time: Bethlen Téri Theater, Budapest

24/04/2023, 7:00 p.m

Tickets can be purchased at the box office of the Bethlen Téri Theater and online at bethlenszinhaz.jegy.hu.

Ticket information: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. +36 70 368 7438