Missa Mater Sola (literally: 'mass about the lonely mother; mass about only the mother') is a theatrical mass by composer & theater maker Timo Tembuyser. It focuses on the mother figure, flanked by a six-person choir of sons - six boy(s) on their way to an adult voice. In the absence of the Father, the Goddess is sung together after millennia of women's oppression. In collaboration with dance legend Fumiyo Ikeda as mother of the community of performers, the mother-son relationship is explored as a physical act of giving and receiving, of carrying and being carried.
Missa Mater Sola premiered in the Cement Festival, and was performed on location in Werkwarenhuis, the industrial heritage of the building providing a raw environment for the piece. The light design used industrial elements and aimed to give the piece a contemporary feel, situating the themes firmly in the here and now.
Missa Mater Sola was nominated for the BNG Bank Theater Prize 2021/22.
Missa Mater Sola is is a musical performance that touches. Timo Tembuyser and his group of performers sing and dance a mass for the mother. An ode to the feminine, to life in all its sweetness , nuance and ambiguity. Missa Mater Sola is a poignant musical performance. … The divergent perspectives of the diverse group of performers, the different languages and design languages enhance the story and make this a highly layered performance. The powerful voices and the whispering flute in magnificent new compositions by Tembuyser are moving. Missa Mater Sola makes a genuine proposal for a future world in which non-binary thinking is the norm.
From the nomination jury report for the BNG Bank Theater Prize.
Concept | Regie • Timo Tembuyser
Dramaturgie • Lena Meyskens
Choreografie • Timo Tembuyser / Fumiyo Ikeda
A mother's body (dans) • Fumiyo Ikeda
A body of sons (zangers) • Timo Tembuyser / Alberto Martínez / Dominic Kraemer / Kai Sven Detering / Otion (Guillermo Armand Blinker) / Sonia Sheridan Jacquelin
Fluit • Mar Sala Ramagosa
Scenografie • Timo Tembuyser / Vinny Jones
Licht & donker • Vinny Jones
Geluidsontwerp • Jo Thielemans
Kostuums • Sara Schoon
Fotos • William van der Voort
Premier 23/3/2022 Festival Cement, Den Bosch, NL
