To Mom, I Want to...is a collaborative theatre project initiated by playwright Jiayun Zhuang, active in China and the US, together with the Berlin-based collective Nomadic Minutes (CAO Kefei, ZHANG Deng, ZHOU Niannian, and LIU Shiyu—artists born in China across four different decades, now residing and working in Germany).
With a focus on the relationships with their moms, the project examines the interplay between these theatermakers’ diasporic experiences in Germany and their sentiments toward their motherland. It explores how individuals continually traverse temporal and physical boundaries, information asymmetry, and sociocultural differences between their home and host societies. In the post-pandemic context, the project also probes into the anxieties associated with uncertain mobility, the heightened sensitivity of negotiating dual identities, and a perceived trend towards cultural deglobalization. Supported by Shanghai’s Theatre YOUNG and Berlin’s Ballhaus Ost, the production will debut in both cities in 2025.
The Making of “To Mom, I Want to...”
Performance Documentation: Rene Staebler (Berlin)
ZOU Xueping (Shanghai)
Video Editor: Wenhua Shi
Subtitle Editor: ZHANG Deng
Coproduction partners: Jiayun Zhuang (China/US) and Nomadic Minutes — CAO Kefei, ZHANG Deng, ZHOU Niannian, & LIU Shiyu (Germany)
