DEEN
DEEN
Festival
in Bitterfeld-
Wolfen

BAGGERN

Three mothers in excavators drive across the wasteland where the Wolfen film factory, the largest women’s factory in the GDR, was once located. STUDIO URBANISTAN poses the question of the place of parents in the (working) world in a rough setting with large machines. An audiovisual excavator ballet.

They clear away, they dig deep, they shovel away and build up new layers. Some prejudices and role models need to be dug up. But who is actually tilling who or what here? And what does motherhood mean today? – Moments of excessive demands, invisible care work and struggles for compatibility and gender equality come together in an audio collage on the wasteland. Previously unheard voices of shift workers, the self-employed and full-time moms, from East and West Germany, urban and rural, young and old, single parents and patchwork are heard. At the same time, the excavators stoically go about their work. The “mothers” inside are allowed to shout out, ram their anger into the ground, remain silent and sing. Meanwhile, the audience stands with their headphones, by no means just uninvolved at the construction site…

Artistic direction: Clara Minckwitz & Julia Lehmann
Performance: Katharina Bill, Clara Minckwitz, Clarissa Schneider & Mathilde Lehmann
Sound: Nicolas Schneider
Set design & production assistance: Lea Stöcker
Production: Lena Mallmann

The original sounds of the project come from voice messages and in-depth interviews with various mothers, parents and guardians. Many thanks for the open conversations and moving thoughts.

A production of STUDIO URBANISTAN, KATAPULT – Performance Plattform Leipzig and FREISCHWIMMEN.

FREISCHWIMMEN is a production platform for performance and theater, supported by brut Wien, FFT Düsseldorf, Gessnerallee Zürich, HochX Theater and Live Art Munich, LOFFT – DAS THEATER, Schwankhalle Bremen, SOPHIENSÆLE Berlin and Theater Rampe Stuttgart, under the management of SOPHIENSÆLE GmbH, made possible within the framework of the “Promoting Connections” program of the Federal Association of Independent Performing Arts, funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.

The rehearsal process was supported by the Fonds Darstellende Künste with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media as part of NEUSTART KULTUR. The project was also supported by the City of Leipzig, Cultural Office and the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony. This measure was co-financed by tax funds on the basis of the budget approved by the Saxon state parliament.

The residency as part of KATAPULT was funded by the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony as part of the special program ‘Kulturland 2022. Saxony as a stage’.

The event is part of the series “DIE KUNST, VIELE ZU BLEIBEN. Nationwide Forums for Art, Freedom and Democracy” by the Fonds Darstellende Künste in cooperation with Festival OSTEN/Kulturpark e.V. and in collaboration with the diverse landscape of the independent performing arts, festivals, interest groups and production houses, funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media as part of NEUSTART KULTUR.