New immersive show explores Queer Motherhood

Mobilise Arts will premiere a new immersive show, The Queer Motherhood Project, at Midlands Arts Centre (MAC) on 19 and 20 September. Created from the real-life stories and lived experiences of queer mothers, expect a show that’s part live musical, part vox pop and part verbatim spoken word.

Dr Hannah Phillips, a queer mother, theatre-maker and director of Mobilise Arts said: “The show is a queer mix of art forms. In one moment, the audience will feel like they are at a queer cabaret show and the next we are watching real people sharing their lived queer motherhood experiences on film. The stories range from heartbreaking to heartwarming and everything in between. I am interested in what society may learn from queer families and I am grateful for the meaningful and often painful conversations I have had around motherhood during this project.”

The cast of The Queer Motherhood Project is made up of Rachel Jones, Katy Rooke and Elexi Walker whose credits between them span theatres in America, China and the UK. The show has been created and directed by Hannah Phillips with Music by Nik Haley, Musical Direction and Videography by Rachel Jones, Choreography by Liz Wilson, Set Design by Abigail King and Digital Content by Patrick Caulwell.

The live shows will feature videos made especially for The Queer Motherhood Project including one from comedian, author and actor Jen Brister who commented “As a lesbian Mum who has no biological connection to my sons I viscerally understand how important it is that the status of queer parents should be protected, their voices amplified and their experiences shared far and wide.”

The show also features a video from Dr Stella Duffy OBE psychotherapist and writer who talks about queering childlessness and childfreeness and her own experience of being childless-not-by-choice since cancer treatment in her mid-30s.

Stella added: “All too often in considering queer parenthood, the experiences of those of us who are infertile, childless not by choice, or childless by circumstance, are either forgotten or actively ignored. I am so grateful to this company for remembering that we too are part of the story. We’re here, we’re queer, and we’re childless in a profoundly prenatal culture. Thank you for including us.”

Tickets are available via Mobilise Arts: The Queer Motherhood Project | Midlands Arts Centre (macbirmingham.co.uk)

The Queer Motherhood Project has been developed and created by Mobilise Arts in partnership with MAC, DIVA, Shout Festival of Queer Arts and Culture, Birmingham Pride Community Foundation, the Sir Barry Jackson Trust and Arts Council England.

For more information on Mobilise Arts and to find out more about The Queer Motherhood Project visit www.mobilisearts.co.uk and follow @MobiliseArts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.