Lullabies are a space to sing the unsung, a place to say the unsayable. You’re alone. Nobody is listening, and you can express the feelings that are not okay to express in society.
Donna Rutherford has been devising performance and video work internationally for 26 years, ‘Unsaid Lullaby’ follows on from her recent projects KIN and Broth, looking at family and ageing. Although this time it’s about a missing element – the children she never had. Adding the voices of other middle-aged women who never reproduced, the piece explores the highly personal alongside various public opinions of this under-the-wire situation. Musician Inge Thomson has created an intricate soundscape of voices and music based on a series of lullabies (traditional and newly-penned).
“There’s a widespread attitude that you haven’t really fulfilled your potential unless you’ve had a baby. Women in previous generations fought long and hard for our rights, and one of those rights was to be able to have a choice – that being female wasn’t just about being a mother. It seems like we’ve thrown it all away. Yes, you can work, have a career and be financially independent, but you still have to have children to be ‘complete’.” Alexi, 41, civil servant.
Never having had children might not necessarily dominate an individual’s life, but it could significantly impact for many reasons, potentially when caring for ageing parents, or considering your own later-life care. Other reasons may involve physical or emotional histories, sexuality, proactively never wanting children or just realising it is too late.
Donna is also leading a story-telling workshop on Saturday 25th February. Find out more here.
This event is women only and 14+. It is free to attend. Please book below (you will be taken through the shopping cart but no charge will be made) or you can call us on 0141 550 2267. If you have booked a place and are no longer able to attend please let us know so that we can make your place available to someone else.