MAMI | Espoonteatteri

Contemporary performance

nonverbal 16+

A hymn for all the women who raised us

Two people embracing and looking at each other under white gauze.

A naked body loosely wrapped in white cloth lies in water.

Two naked bodies lie on their forearms in soil.

Production
Onassis Stegi
Venue
&Louhi
Services and how to get there
Duration
1 h 10 min, no intermission
Language
nonverbal
Notes
nudity, age recommendation 16+

A person looks off camera underwater in a dark space.

About

Creator of a stage language all his own, the 26-year-old Albanian-born Mario Banushi is already touring the world with his first plays, "Goodbye, Lindita" (2023) and "Taverna Miresia—Mario, Bella, Anastasia" (2023), and is hailed internationally as the wunderkind of Greek theater. If, in his previous works, the theme was mourning, in "MAMI" it is the source of life. For in Banushi’s personal mythology, the almost homonymous words “mami” and “mam” become identical. Mami, as in mother. Mam, as in food. One pulls out one’s heart and offers it to another like a warm loaf of bread.

Drawing inspiration from personal experiences, Banushi creates an unholy shrine to the mother-child relationship. To celebrate it. To exorcise it. To fill it with vows and curses. To fall in love with it. For, as he himself notes, “I have always said that birth is love in reverse.”

The stage becomes a landscape of memory. As eerie as it is familiar. The performers, immersed in silence, create moments of profound emotion and urge us to recognize and confront our own memories, our own relationships, and the emotional legacy we carry.

This breakout director’s new creation is a visual poem about the mother-child relationship. A show that is a tribute to the women who nurtured us.

What others are saying

"Mario Banushi has quickly become one of the most talked-about theatre practitioners in Europe. The 26-year-old director’s works are visual rituals that I have experienced as something akin to holy. The performances have lived on in my mind as powerful afterimages. No one else creates work such as this, nowhere else can anything like this be seen. We are delighted to contribute as one of the coproducers of MAMI, having, once again, joined forces with major European arts organisations such as Odéon Théâtre de l’Europe of France and Berliner Festspiel of Germany, among others. We are proud to invest in a young director and in this international production."Jussi Sorjanen, Artistic Director of &

Two people in dresses float in shallow water facing upwards.

Working group

Conceived and directed by	Mario Banushi
With	Vasiliki Driva / Katerina Kristo, Dimitris Lagos, Eftychia Stefanou / Ilia Koukouzeli, Angeliki Stellatou, Fotis Stratigos, Panagiota Υiagli
Set & costume design	Sotiris Melanos
Original music and sound design	Jeph Vanger
Lighting design and associate dramaturg	Stephanos Droussiotis
Artistic collaboration	Aimilios Arapoglou, Thanasis Deligiannis
Assistant Director	Theodora Patiti
International relations & tour management	Nikos Mavrakis
Production management	Rena Andreadaki & Christos Christopoulos – TooFarEast
Line production	Ioanna Papakosta - TooFarEast
Auditions & residency coordinator	Konstantina Douka Gkosi – TooFarEast
Lighting design on tour	Marietta Pavlaki
Sound engineer on tour	Kostas Chaidos
Set Assistant	Sofia Theodorou
Costume Assistant	Nikoleta Anastasiadou
Set construction	Michalis Lagkouvardos
Special constructions	Alaxouzoi brothers, Alexandros Loggos
Special lighting constructions	Giorgos Ierapetritis
Rehearsal technical coordination	Aristidis Kreatsoulas – TooFarEast
Rehearsal electrician	Konstantinos Mavrantzas
Rehearsal technical support	Stefanos Ntaoulas, Iason Papantoniou, Grigoris Zkeris, Paris Asimakopoulos
In collaboration with	OMAZ
Commissioned and produced by	Onassis Stegi
Co-produced by	Berliner Festspiele [DE], Odéon – Théâtre de l'Europe [FR], FOG Festival / Triennale Milano Teatro [IT], & Espoo Theatre [FI], Grec Festival Barcelona [ES], Noorderzon Festival / Grand Theatre Groningen [NL]
Initial research & development with the support of	Onassis AiR Dramaturgy Fellowship [GR] ja Centre Culturel Hellénique—Pariisi [FR]
With the support of	Onassis Stegi Outward Turn Program, Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation
With the financial support of	The Ministry of Culture, Greece

Pricing

Standard37 €
Small group (4+)35 €
Pensioner33 €
Groups (20+)33 €
Student, unemployed, under 25 y25 €
Theatre professional (10 days before)25 €

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From the director

“When I was about a year old, my mother had to leave me with my grandmother in Albania and go away. Until I was thirteen, I called my grandmother ‘mami.’ When my mother took me with her to Athens, I grew up in the apartment above the bakery where she worked, with the smell of freshly baked bread. I grew up around many women. I grew up around young women and old women. I grew up with more than one mother. This show is for them: a wish, a prayer to the weight the word ‘mom’ carries for both the one who hears it and the one who says it. Who takes care of whom—I never understood this complicated relationship. And I never will. But I’m trying to unravel it like an umbilical cord, like the viscera that connects life to its roots.”

Mario Banushi, photo by Afroditi Kapokaki

Genre

Language

Age recommendation

About

What others are saying

Working group

Conceived and directed by

With

Set & costume design

Original music and sound design

Lighting design and associate dramaturg

Artistic collaboration

Assistant Director

International relations & tour management

Production management

Line production

Auditions & residency coordinator

Lighting design on tour

Sound engineer on tour

Set Assistant

Costume Assistant

Set construction

Special constructions

Special lighting constructions

Rehearsal technical coordination

Rehearsal electrician

Rehearsal technical support

In collaboration with

Commissioned and produced by

Co-produced by

Initial research & development with the support of

With the support of

With the financial support of

Pricing

From the director