Mothers – a song for wartime

Part of REACT – The National Theater's International Festival 2026

The violence of war against women follows the same relentless pattern throughout history. Today, war confronts Europe with its most fundamental questions: What is our responsibility when people are in danger? How do we protect ourselves and each other?

Based on testimonies from mothers and children in Ukraine, Belarus, and Poland, director Marta Górnicka has created an unforgettable choral performance. Together with 21 women aged 9 to 72, mothers and daughters who themselves have fled war, fled persecution or opened their homes to those in need of protection, MOTHERS A SONG FOR WARTIME takes shape. The ensemble is represented by people with different political experiences and life stories, some of them survivors from Mariupol, Kyiv, Irpin, and Kharkiv.

Górnicka, who is also the founder of the Political Voice Institute at the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin, seeks a choir voice that moves beyond the boundaries of opera, inspired by the female choirs of the 7th century BC. The performance is created from Ukrainian chants, traditional songs, incantations, and political statements that form a soundscape where everyday life, trauma, and resistance take place side by side.

With support from the Polish Institute in Stockholm and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.

Come in groups – pay less

6–9 people – 10% discount
10–14 people – 15% discount
15–24 people – 20% discount
25 people – 25% discount