Bringing the death of one’s mother to the stage, reconstructing the story of mourning. It is the challenge that the artist, author and director faces Mohamed El Khatib45 years old, with deluded spectacle Finish en beauté (Finish in style), scheduled in Rome on 8 and 9 November at the MAXXI.
Mohamed, how difficult was it to stage a play about your mother’s death?
“I think it wasn’t difficult because it was necessary. I told myself that, by creating this show, the world is divided into two categories: those who have lost their mother and those who will lose her. And that without a doubt, out of necessity, to help those who will lose her to accompany her, this is the reason that pushed me or gave me the strength to create this show.”
What is the genesis of the show? The initial idea was that of an interview-conversation with your mother, then death interrupted everything, right?
“The real genesis is that once I was in the hospital and I remember thinking: I will never forget my mother’s face. After all, we never forget the faces of the people we loved or their photos. What we forget instead is the voice, the timbre of the voice. When a loved one disappears, after a while you forget their voice, so I wanted to record it. I told myself that this way I would always have their voice with me.”
The show has a composite form: newspaper extracts, e-mails sent and received, telephone messages, text messages, fragments of conversations with the father, transcriptions of recordings, videos…
“When a death occurs, everything accelerates, everything goes very, very fast and you are faced with a multitude of emotional, administrative, legal, family, intimate, geographical issues. And so… I wanted to give an account of this vortex into which death throws you. And that’s why it was a concentrate of everything I received in forty-eight hours and which takes the form of recordings, texts, administrative documents, as in life.”
There is also humor in his show. Is it an antidote to sadness and pain?
“I believe that humor is also present out of necessity, but also because it arises spontaneously. Many times we had to laugh with my sisters. Even in tragic moments, there is always a small, small ray of light. And humor is at the same time a form of discreet modesty and a work of distancing that begins with sweetness.”
What advice would you give to spectators of the Roma Europa Festival who are going to see your show?“No, I have no advice to give to the spectators, other than to promise them that we will have a good time, just like at home. And since it is the period of All Souls’ Day and All Saints’ Day, it is an opportunity to celebrate our mothers together. So come, you won’t regret it.”
