World premiere of Motherhood, an artist lecture by Suzanne Bocanegra, performed with actor Judah Lang, blending personal memoir with cultural and historic analysis.
Suzanne Bocanegra brings Motherhood to the McCullough Theatre on Friday, November 6, and Saturday, November 7, with both performances starting at 7:30 PM. It's a world premiere, commissioned in part by Texas Performing Arts with support from Kathleen Irvin Loughlin and the College of Fine Arts O'Donnell Visiting Artist Endowment.
On the surface, the format is an artist lecture, and Motherhood is the fifth in a series of works where Bocanegra takes that mundane setup and turns it into something more like a theatrical experience. She blends personal memoir with cultural and historic analysis, and the range of what she touches on is wide: foundling homes, feminism, party planning, and nuns. It's the kind of thing that starts in one place and ends up somewhere you didn't expect.
This particular piece is described as a rich and moving examination of how society values or undervalues the work of raising children. It's not a lecture in the academic sense, and it's not a play in the traditional one; it sits somewhere in between, with Bocanegra on stage alongside actor Judah Lang. The two of them carry the evening, and since it's a world premiere, these Austin shows are among the first times the work will be performed.
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If you're interested in how a personal story can open up into a larger conversation about family and labor, this is a good place to start. You can catch it on either Friday, November 6, or Saturday, November 7, with both performances at the McCullough Theatre starting at 7:30 PM.
