'Mother' by Peeping Tom

I once heard that if you go to the theatre often, you get to see a lot of quite average plays. It is unfortunately true, but once in a while you manage to see this one great play that makes it worthwhile. Today, we went to see 'Mother' by Peeping Tom, a theatre I knew from a few years ago and was impatiently waiting for their next tour in the UK. 

They came in the end of January this year (2018) and performed as previously, in one of my favourite venues, at the Barbican. 'Mother', a second part of a trilogy by Peeping Tom exploring the theme of 'family'. It is by no stretch is a conventional play, and that is a reason I loved it so much. When previously watching their '32 Rue Vandenbranden', I fell in love with the dark humour, perfect agility of the actors, a dreamlike, jerky and surprising plot, and  just stunning scenography, with amazing flashes of colour. They expanded on all these features and made another amazing spectacle.

It is inspiring on many levels mostly because it is unexpected but at every point very humane, deeply emotional and showing fragility of human beings in its most vulnerable moments. The loneliness is not exaggerated but revealed but with Peeping Tom's take on it we have a little bit of distance to them, because of their movement that makes tragedies a bit abstract, because of sound that transports the scenery in time and space, and because of beautiful light that shifts and cuts scenography, and creates almost a film like edit just in front of our eyer. The scenography itself is rich full of textures and levels, revealing subtle changes at each stage. 

"Moeder is not about a mother, but about several mothers. We talk about motherhood, absence, lack. The play searches the memory and the subconscious to reveal what the mother carries as desires, fears, sufferings or violence. For this piece, I wanted a set design that could represent several spaces, like the multiplicity of mothers. The action takes place in a museum, but can also be seen as a private exhibit space, where family pictures and photos are displayed." 
Read the entire conversation of Bachtrack.com with Gabriela Carrizo

I wish to see 'Father' now... another play by Peeping Tom and hope to see them in London soon.