MATRIARCHY is project that encourages new and veteran performers to create art in which they imagine what they think a matriarchy looks like or could look like. Maria Anasazi’s Tell me More Stories uses a dress to explore the experience of being a child/adult without a mother. Other performances include a poem by TS Hawkins on a mother’s love, a multimedia performance on Medusa’s head and androgyne fantasies by Geppetta, and a play by L. J. Longo using traditional fairytale characters to explore the pitfalls of patriarchy and the change required to live in a matriarchy. The event will take place on Sunday, February 27, 2011 at 7:30pm at The Rotunda (4014 Walnut St., Philadelphia). Admission is free.
The objective of the MATRIARCHY project is to encourage new and veteran performers to create song, poetry, stories, scenes, pictures, movement, etc. in which the performers show what they think a matriarchy looks like or could look like. The inspiration for this project came partly from project coordinator Gerald van Wilgen’s conversations with his friend Francene Blythe, whom we interview on our facebook page, about her experiences being raised in the Navaho matriarchy.
This project is the brainchild of those who created Rite of Passage* and Constant Revolution**
The purpose of these projects is to further a specific cause while providing a stage for creation, irrespective of artistic pedigree.
Over the past few weeks, strangers interested in this concept have been gathering to share their interpretations of everything from antediluvian goddess culture to stories from mothers-in-law to successful rape-free matri-lineal societies, to feminist linguistics, holiday genesis, and so much more.
With all of these ingredients, how can you resist attending this event? And don’t worry about missing the Oscars. This is a night for Oscarinas (sic)!
Performances include (in random order):
• Tell me More Stories
by Maria Anasazi
a piece about the loss that comes from the absence of a mother in the life of a child/adult. In considering shapes and archetypes that can be associated with matriarchy, the group discussed the circle as a powerful image, in nature and every day life. The circle appears in this piece, as the circle or circumference of a woman’s dress or skirt —the cultural space she occupies. See the image on this page, for a preview of the dress that will play a significant role in this piece.
• Save My Name!
by Kimya Jackson
Hearing the voices of matriarchs through a story/voice/movement experience
• Birds of a Feather, a mini play
Life for these birds is about abundance and inclusion but what happens when scarcity and exclusion occurs?
The Birds: Sheila Mar, Terri Fries Bateman, Carol Veach, Ginny Kaufmann, Michele Moscicki, Chris Cutrufello, Michael Morrison
Director: Susan Triggiani
• A ritual invocation of the neolithic matriarchy of Çatal Höyük
by Sachio Takashima (as Pan), with a Goddess icon by Painter Danielle Kulp, performed with companions
• Singer/songwriter, “Keyboard” Cathy Wiegand will be contributing two musical theater style songs,
“The Mate in Matriarch” and “World Peace & Perfect Harmony” complete with orchestral style arrangements
• A ten minute play using traditional fairytale characters to explore the pitfalls of the patriarchy and the life change required to live in a matriarchy
by L. J. Longo, JML Productions
• piece of multimedia fabulism on Medusa’s head and androgyne fantasies
by Geppetta
• a piece on the origins of Mother’s Day
by Mike Tait
• ‘An Ode to The Past’ and ‘Momma’s Worry”
by TS Hawkins
The first poem ‘An Ode to the Past’ is a lighter piece speaking from the child’s POV on a mother’s love. The second poem ‘Momma’s Worry’ highlights a mother’s angst when she comes to the realization that her child has been killed in the 9-11 bombing.
Please visit our Facebook group, called Constant Revolution, for more information and photos of previous performances. Under the discussion tab, you will find an interview with Francene Blythe, who grew up in a matriarchal culture. She has some amazing insights into both matriarchal and patriarchal culture. Feel free to keep the discussion going by asking her questions.
*Rite of Passage was a collaborative project in which a group of strangers came together to create a modern day collective ritual in order to shed concepts, beliefs, and objects they no longer needed. This ritual was shared with an audience who were invited to participate.
**Constant Revolution was a project that welcomed members of the performing arts community as well as members of the general public to discuss abuse in various forms (sexual, verbal, domestic, work place, sex slaves, etc.) and perform, either alone or together, a new piece or a revived one that addresses, exposes, and learns from these topics. Over the course of several weeks, the participants discussed their own stories or stories they have heard, weaving them into their performances and exhibits.
Admission is FREE
