To Mom, I Want to…
Berlin Exhibition of CAO Kefei’s Documentaries: "Fourteen Plainsongs" and a Space for Spectators to Share Thoughts About Their Mothers - A Contributing Inspiration for "To Mom, I Want To" | © CAO Kefei
Jiayun Zhuang, the playwright and coproducer of To Mom, I Want to…, is a theatremaker who works internationally as a playwright, concept developer, dramaturg, and educator. | © Tang Yiwei
The other coproducer of To Mom, I Want to, Nomadic Minutes, is a Berlin-based performance collective founded by CAO Kefei, ZHANG Deng, ZHOU Niannian, and LIU Shiyu, born in China across four decades—from the 1960s to the 1990s. Now primarily based in Germany, the members bring diverse expertise in theatre, dance, philosophy, and translation. The collective engages deeply with cultural landscapes in Europe and China, emphasizing documentary narratives and performative storytelling.
Nomadic Minutes gathered for a meeting about the project. From left to right: ZHANG Deng, ZHOU Niannian, LIU Shiyu, CAO Kefei.
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© ZHANG Deng
Edwin van Steenbergen is a light designer and theatre technician based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. | © private
Wenhua Shi is a visual designer and video artist based in Boston, USA. | © private
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.
