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Photos by Edwin Sitt & Dan McBride |

Mother of Compost

Noémie Huttner-Koros (Australia)

ASIAN Premiere Book Now

“Whimsical yet powerful, Mother of Compost, is a show with ecological advice that’s worth hearing and heeding” — Seesaw

“Mother of Compost tackles climate change and social responsibility through the lens of young artists as they contemplate nature and regeneration, what legacy we will leave on our children, and whether it is, indeed a good idea to birth at all. Equal parts love-letter to and manifesto on ecology, Mother of Compost is ground-breaking theatre that serves to enrich the mind.” — The Fourth Wall

“Noémie Huttner-Koros was a joyful, sometimes sad, brilliant presence in the room.” — Weekend Notes

Dearest compost, I am your mother and I am your child.

Earth is in danger. Some of us don't want to have children. Some worry that when their children grow up, Earth won't be a good place to live in. Either way, we have lots of love to give each other.

In this show, we will rethink what it means to give birth and be born. We will dance.

The show is messy, exaggerated and queer, with lots of interaction.

It makes us think about:

  • What makes a family
  • Giving birth
  • Evolution

In the show, the audience starts as strangers, and becomes like family. Mother of Compost is a queer and messy family gathering. It is also a way for us to grieve together about what is being lost.

Two queer performers created this show. They are Noémie Huttner-Koros and director Andrew Sutherland. Mother of Compost asks you to roll up your sleeves… Change only comes from getting your hands dirty.

With the support of the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, Government of Western Australia.

Open captions in English for all shows. 
Post-show dialogue on 5 January 2023, with speech to text interpretation available upon request. Please email your request to info@singaporefringe.com before 22 December 2022.

Artist Statement

Mother of Compost relooks at care and family-making. It asks an audience to grow together. We are facing a climate crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. It is easy to only feel doom and alone. This work asks us to care, parent and nurture even when it seems hard.

“This work started during the Black Summer bushfires (2019-2020). It burned across many parts of Australia. Smoke covered my hometown for weeks. I thought about what it would mean to give birth to a child in this world.

Mother of Compost is based off: 1. The things I fight for to create change; 2. Talks with people of different ages. It looks at how caring for each other is important when the future is uncertain.”
— Noémie Huttner-Koros

“Whimsical yet powerful, Mother of Compost, is a show with ecological advice that’s worth hearing and heeding” — Seesaw

“Mother of Compost tackles climate change and social responsibility through the lens of young artists as they contemplate nature and regeneration, what legacy we will leave on our children, and whether it is, indeed a good idea to birth at all. Equal parts love-letter to and manifesto on ecology, Mother of Compost is ground-breaking theatre that serves to enrich the mind.” — The Fourth Wall

“Noémie Huttner-Koros was a joyful, sometimes sad, brilliant presence in the room.” — Weekend Notes

Dearest compost, I am your mother and I am your child.

We live in an ecologically precarious time. Some of us don’t want to bring children into this world, others are worried their children won’t have a world to grow old into... but we’ve still got a whole lot of love to give. Rethink what it means to give birth and be birthed, and dance along with us in this gooey, camp and interactive subversion of family portraits, birthing classes, and evolutionary biology.

Over the course of the performance, the audience transforms from strangers to the beginnings of a family. Mother of Compost is a queer and unruly family gathering and a communal grieving for what is being lost and everything left to fight for.

From the minds of queer performance-makers Noémie Huttner-Koros and director Andrew Sutherland, Mother of Compost asks you to roll up your sleeves this Fringe Festival… Change only comes from getting your hands dirty.

With the support of the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, Government of Western Australia.

Open captions in English for all shows.
Post-show dialogue on 5 January 2023, with speech to text interpretation available upon request. Please email your request to info@singaporefringe.com before 22 December 2022.

Artist Statement

Mother of Compost re-imagines nurturing and family-making by inviting an audience to grow and entangle. Amidst the climate crisis and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, when we are so tempted to feel doom and alienation… this work invites us to care, parent and nurture even when it seems impossible.”

“This work had its beginnings during the horrific Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20 that burned across large swathes of the Australian continent. Smoke covered my hometown for weeks and I wondered about what it would mean to bring a child into this world.” 

Mother of Compost is grounded in my practices of activism and intergenerational conversations, and explores how the energy of care-giving can be harnessed as we go into this uncertain future.”
— Noémie Huttner-Koros

Download artist biographies

Date & Duration
4 to 6 January 2023, 8pm
60 min with no intermission

Location
Esplanade Theatre Studio

Price
$32 | $24*
*Concession for students, NSF, senior citizens and PWD cardholders

Accessibility Features
Open captions in English

Rating
Advisory 16 (Nudity and Some Mature Content)

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