“A Mother’s Heart: Children Keep All Our Tears” is a performance about the tragedy of mothers whose children are on the front line. The storyline of the performance revolves around a woman’s memories of love, birth, and childhood, and the anticipation of what may not happen because of the War. The story combines three time dimensions: past, present, and a possible happy future.
However, there is another side to reality and a key question: “What if he never comes back?”. Realizing the cyclical nature of events and life, the woman is almost ready to accept her reality but allows herself to live in a moment of hope for the last time and shares it with the audience. The performance immerses us in the state of a person living in a world of uncertainty and helplessness, but who can also find strength in the shared experience of grief.
The performance is based on personal texts written by Ukrainian mothers to their sons during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, including letters from women in a bomb shelter in Mariupol and a woman from Lviv whose two sons died on the front line. These documentary texts are performed by Tetiana Troitska and supplemented with vocal parts by Mariana Golovko and sound collages of texts by Vlad Troitskyi and Thomas Flocken. Vlad Troitskyi’s production is a moving work of art consisting of acting, singing, animation, video, and sound compositions.
The performance is in Ukrainian with English subtitles.
It takes place within the framework of the UA Days festival, co-hosted with the city of Esch-sur-Alzette.
All proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to LUkraine projects.
The event has age restrictions: 14+