Wartime violence against women never changes. War asks the ultimate questions: about responsibility in the face of danger, and about our defense mechanisms. Polish director Marta Górnicka, creator of the CHORUS OF WOMEN and founder of the Political Voice Institute at the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin, creates a choral performance out of the testimonies of mothers and their children from Ukraine, Belarus and Poland: those who have fled war, those who have fled persecution, and those who have welcomed the refugees into their Polish homes.
The cast consists of 21 Ukrainian, Polish and Belarusian women aged 9 to 71, each with her unique political experience and a different life story; refugees from Mariupol, Kyiv, Irpin and Kharkiv. This chorus seeks a new, post-opera choral voice that draws on female choruses through the ages. Ukrainian children’s rhymes, traditional songs, spells and political statements all meet and mix with each other.
The performance MOTHERS A SONG FOR WARTIME opens with a shchedrivka (Ukr. щедрівка) – a traditional Ukrainian song that expresses a wish for happiness and rebirth of the world. It dates back to pre-Christian times and is likely thousands of years old. The ritual of singing a shchedrivka was performed by women only, or by women and children, and it always addressed a particular person. People believed in the power of the song, trusting that its words and the good wishes would come true. Today, these sung wishes are addressed to all people, for a new time; for their entire lives.
