The Igralke Collective and Rajna Racz: MOTHERS

This is not a play about motherhood. It is a play about deciding on motherhood.

Now in their mid-thirties, the Igralke Collective authors feel that time is running out on their decision about motherhood. They are the first generation of women in their families who truly have the freedom of choice: unlike their grandmothers, they are financially independent, so motherhood is no longer the given it was for their mothers. Setting out from personal experience, the creators explored the issue of motherhood in the fields of art, theory, and history. However, by far the most valuable source material was found in the interviews conducted with women who responded to an open call for the project.

The perspectives of mothers, women who decided not to have children, women who cannot have children and those as yet undecided proved that the topic of deciding on motherhood is vast, difficult to encompass, and timeless. This is why the authors decided it deserves not only a performance, but also a museum. As long as there is no such permanent museum, this performance will use the mediums of expression, movement, music, and visual art to conjure an imaginary museum of (non)motherhood made of oftentimes invisible experiences and stories that are at the same time intimate, social, and mythical.

Our museum has floating roots. Right now it is here, in front of the Ethnographic Museum of the Brijuni National Park, but once the lights go off, it moves. It travels through women’s bodies and appears when they need it most. We needed it. And when we did, it revealed itself.

You will wander. You will get lost. Years might pass before you leave again. Here, time is thick and viscous. The days are long, but years fly by. Shall we go?

Following the performances Grandmas and Girls (directed by Tjaša Črnigoj), the Igralke Collective’s performance Mothers concludes a unique women’s trilogy. The collective joined forces with the director and author Rajna Racz, a young mother herself, and transformed the theatre into a space for creation and gentle co-existence with a child. The stage became a place for the Igralke Collective to confront their fears and hopes, as well as the traditional and modern notions and demands placed on women, artists, and mothers. At the same time, it became a space of freedom (of choice).

We would like to thank the women who responded to our open call and the students of the Department of Cultural Studies, as well as their supervisor, Assistant Dunja Matić Benčić, for conducting the interviews.

Concept: The Igralke Collective and Rajna Racz
Director: Rajna Racz
Text: Ana Marija Brđanović, Maja Ležaić, Rajna Racz, Anja Sabol, Sendi Sotlar, Vanda Velagić
Creators and performers: Ana Marija Brđanović, Anja Sabol, Sendi Sotlar, Vanda Velagić
Alternation: Klara Kovačić
Dramaturgy: Maja Ležaić
Movement consultant: Mila Čuljak
Stage and costume design: Paola Lugarić Benzia, Tanja Blašković
Music and sound design: Marin Živković
Lighting design and technical director: Marin Lukanović
Visual design: Oleg Morović
The interviews were conducted by the students at the Department of Cultural Studies at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka: Mia Lukić, Lara Krsmanović, Hana Krsmanović, Lisa Ivanić, Ivana Gubo, Aurora Vivoda, Nina Blažević, Dorotea Zwingl Mikler, and Tara Savić. They were supervised by Dunja Matić Benčić.
Co-produced by: Igralke Collective (CRO); House Nahero (CRO); Ulysses Theatre (CRO); Maska Ljubljana (SLO).
In partnership with: the Croatian National Theatre Ivan Pl. Zajc in Rijeka (CRO); the Academy of Applied Arts Rijeka (CRO); Youth Centre Ribnjak (CRO); the Maksimir Centre for Culture and Information Zagreb (CRO).

Co-financed by: the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia, the City of Zagreb, the City of Rijeka, the Primorje–Gorski Kotar County, the Kultura Nova Foundation, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, the City of Ljubljana.

The Ulysses Theatre is supported by: the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia, the City of Pula, the Region of Istria, Brijuni National Park, the Croatian Tourism Association, and sponsors.