Mother Tongue is an original multilingual physical theater performance, created by the Performace Project’s First Generation Ensemble. Mother Tongue is inspired by the experiences of the ensemble members, their families and communities who are from Congo/Tanzania, Bhutan/Nepal, South Sudan/Darfur, Puerto Rico, Holyoke, and Springfield, Massachusetts.
The 90 minute performance weaves together movement, music, dance, and stories in Arabic, Swahili, Nepali, Spanish, and English. The piece incorporates themes of language, culture, identity, diaspora, hypermasculinity, transphobia, racism, the school to prison pipeline, and revolution.
Appropriate for ages 12 and up.
This event is sponsored by The Performance Project, the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence, and the Florence Congregational Church, and is funded by the Scarlet Sock Foundation, Mass Cultural Council, the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, Springfield Cultural Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Beit Ahavah.