Stabat Mater

The Brazilian theatre maker Janaina Leite, together with her own mother and a masked pornographic actor, dissect the cultural-historical relationship between men and women as shaped by the roles of perpetrator and victim. She questions our concepts of femininity, pleasure and desire.
Using the biblical motif of the Virgin Mary as a starting point, she evokes models of femininity and motherhood. Inspired by a philosophical essay by Julia Kristeva, Stabat Mater refers to the medieval poem about the Virgin Mary, literally the »Standing Mother«, the mother who is always there, at the feet of her crucified son. This woman who was born »without pleasure, without sin«, who was impregnated while she slept, becomes the prototype on which the Western world bases its idea of femininity, in the spectrum between whore and saint, between self-denial and masochism.
In a casting process that brought together renowned porn professionals, Janaina casts the question: »Would you agree to do a sex scene with me directed by my mother?« This question had the role of a »device«, to the extent that its simple enunciation made move a field in which the themes of motherhood and sexuality and the form – representation and performance – overlapped. Leite’s production plays with and expands the lecture-performance format by constantly inventing new and alternative spaces in which she lays bare the historical order between man and woman.

JANAINA LEITE, born in São Paulo in 1981, is an actress, director, playwright, and postdoctoral researcher at the School of Communications and Arts at the University of São Paulo (USP). A key figure in Brazilian theatre within the field of »theatre of the real«, she has created works such as »Conversas com meu pai, Stabat Mater« (Shell Award for Best Dramaturgy, 2020), »Camming – 101 noites«, »História do Olho – um conto de fadas pornô noir«, and »Deeper«. Her work has been presented worldwide. She is currently developing The »Black Box or How to Hide the Turtle«.

WITH: Janaina Leite, Amália Fontes Leite, Lucas Asseituno
ART DIRECTION, SCENOGRAPHY AND COSTUMES: Melina Schleder
SOUND AND VIDEO OPERATION: Lana Scott
DRAMATURGY / DIRECTING ASSISTANCE: Lara Duarte, Ramilla Souza
CO DRAMATURGY AND AUDIOVISUAL CO-CONCEPTION: Lillah Halla
LIGHTING OPERATION: Nara Zocher
PRODU CION UND VERTRIEB: Ariane Cuminale – VUELA