Onassis Stegi, Athens, premiere 6th February 2025
MAMI means mother. It sounds almost the same as Mam, which means food. ‘’MAMI’’ is the source of life, the centre of the caregiving and receiving spiral. MAMI is the newest work of Mario Banushi, the 26-year-old Albanian-born director, who has been hailed internationally as the wunderkind of Greek theatre. It follows his trilogy of show, Ragada (2022), Goodbye, Lindita(2023), and Taverna Miresia-Mario, Bella, Anastasia(2023) While the previous works were centred around the rituals of mourning, this new show is centred around life.
Banushi’s new piece is inspired by all the women in his life, young and old, with whom he grew up. Until he was 13, he called his grandmother, who he grew up with, ‘’mami’’ while he called his mother by her name. He was in Albania until he was six and was then taken away by his mother to Athens. MAMI, as he said on his instagram account, is dedicated to his mother, whom he couldn’t call by that name previously. Banushi dedicates the title to her.
Banushi’s previous performances were largely without words, and instead featured strong images (which can often say a lot more than words). As in his previous work, the piece features a soundscape etched with personal and collective memory. In this case, these sounds are a howling dog in the background, crickets chirping or human-related sounds created by the performers. These sounds are joined by original music composed by Jeph Vanger, who along with the set and costume design of Sotiris Melanos, and of course the director’s eye of Banushi, come together to create a visual poem on the theme of motherhood.
Under the warm dim light of a street lamp, we see the outside of a house seemingly somewhere in the countryside. We see a small yard in front of the house, a bed, and an old bike. It is the first time in Banushi’s work where we get to see the outside of a house, whereas in the previous shows everything was kept inside the four walls. This perspective and the whole stage design resembles the inside of a womb, as if Banushi wishes to step outside and observe, like unravelling the umbilical cord to reveal its essence.
The vast open space allows for bigger movements and actions that reflect many images the audience can relate to. These memories that we all might have, which are not imposed by the direction and the dramaturgy, but leave us space to be moved. We see all stages of life: A mother giving birth, a teenager spitting their mother’s milk and laughing sarcastically, a young couple falling in love, a caring son/grandson feeding his mother/grandmother, and a mother consoling an elderly woman before death. All cycles of life revolve around the question of who is caring for whom, in which roles are reversed. It is never clear or lasting who’s on top, who’s giving and who’s taking care, as it probably is in life as well. At the same time, there are actions and movements that seem like they came out of a surrealist painting, a wicked dream, or a dystopian time. They feel very familiar, but unknown how.
Mami, Onassis Stegi. Photo: Andreas Simopoulos
The objects brought on stage all carry symbolic weight. At some point, a basin is brought on stage, which is filled at ¾ with water. It could be another image of a womb in which one of the performers is immersing themselves. But they are going only halfway in, taking a deep breath and staying under water for as long as their breath lasts. This could then be a purifying water following an act of sin. It could also be a basin to be baptized in, a source of identity. However, it could also be a body of water in which two boys fighting with each other later try to drown each other.
In MAMI motherhood is neither celebrated nor mourned. It is presented in its wholeness and its holiness, as it is observed by Mario. At times giving birth is the gift of life, and at other times it is forced, unwanted, or needed for survival. The caring mother can be a monster mother, and children can be a gift but also a burden. Witnessing life can be like watching fireworks or it can be a face of doubt in front of a newborn baby’s crying sounds. Under any light you see it though, breastfeeding is the clearest sign of motherhood, and its significance is there for all to see in many moments, including the very end, which involved Mario Banushi coming on the stage himself to take his place inside a real picture of his mother breastfeeding him in early age.
Banushi has been the centre of attention in the Greek theatre scene, and increasingly on the international stage, in recent years and his works deserve it. Even Willem Dafoe came to specifically see MAMI. At the age of 26, he seems to have been studying life for all of his years, and is able to understand its complexity and multi-layered characteristics. The direction also shows a keen observer of Greek theatre and dance, with influences from famous directors and choreographers such as Dimitris Papaioannou and Romeo Castellucci evident in his work. It is clear that he is hungry as an artist.
MAMI celebrates all kinds of bodies in both physical and subtle, delicate ways. It creates vibrant images that stay in the memory. However, at times the stillness, the void, and the slow pace, might take more away than they reveal, thus making it not an easy subject to follow, despite its relevance to everyone. It is definitely a brave and clever performance, fitting to a Greek theatre scene which at times needs refreshing and newer voices to be heard.
Credits: Conceived and Directed by: Mario Banushi//Set & Costume Design: Sotiris Melanos// Original Music & Sound Design: Jeph Vanger//Lighting Design and Associate Dramaturg: Stephanos Droussiotis//Artistic Collaborators: Aimilios Arapoglou, Thanasis Deligiannis//Assistant Director: Theodora Patiti
Cast: Vasiliki Driva / Katerina Kristo, Dimitris Lagos, Eftychia Stefanou / Ilia Koukouzeli, Angeliki Stellatou, Fotis Stratigos, and Panagiota Υiagli
For further information, visit: Onassis.org
Further reading: review of Goodbye, Lindita
Nick Verginis (1996) (he/him) is a Greek cultural journalist and researcher based in Amsterdam. With a background in media studies and cultural leadership, Nick is interested in thinking, researching, producing, and writing for the performing arts, with particular expertise in artist residencies.
Nick is collaborating with the platform Around About Circus, writing reviews, reports, and articles about contemporary circus. At the same time, he is an administration and production assistant of the circus companies Ki Omos Kineitai(GR) and Profondo Rosso(NL). Nick is also part of Acréo, the first Greek contemporary circus magazine, and Backpage Project, a European cooperation between print magazines on circus.
