'Mother Has Arrived' witness a lifetime in six hours this September

"By the time the wig comes on, Martha's presence is irrefutable. We must believe our eyes."

Witness a lifetime in six hours: two actors, live prosthetics, and a mother's 84-year journey.

Spanning 1942 to the present day, Mother Has Arrived is Than Hussein Clark's homage to his mother. It follows Martha Fuller Clark's life and political career from her early support of President Obama and Bernie Sanders to her pivotal support in passing gay marriage legislation. This deeply personal odyssey is told through real audio recordings and scripted fiction from within a specially designed vitrine where we witness the total transformation of a young male actor into the artist's Mother.

From theatre director and visual artist Than Hussein Clark (Centre Pompidou, Art Basel, Frieze Art Fair), Mother Has Arrived presents actors Benedict Wishart, Lewis Blomfield and prosthetics artist Aurora Beadle in an intricately detailed six-and-a-half-hour durational performance.

Mother Has Arrived makes its world premiere at Corvi-Mora Gallery in London for a strictly limited 5 week run from 4 September until 3 October. This unmissable play can be watched in its entirety or in part.

Mother Has Arrived is produced by The Director's Theatre Writer's Theatre, the resident company of London Performance Studios.

Each show ticket will be an artwork edition designed by Than Hussein Clark. Mother has arrived is part of two person exhibition alongside German conceptual artist David Lieske (1979) who is exhibiting a new suite of artworks in the gallery during the performance run.

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Further information:
'Mother Has Arrived' is Than Hussein Clark's homage to his mother, Martha Fuller Clark. The production details Matha's life from her birth in 1942 to the present day, navigating between biography and fiction through verbatim and devised theatre. Narratives were extracted from recorded conversations between the artist and his mother, recently discovered recordings of the artist's father, and archival audio of historical events. The play is performed by two actors and one prosthetics artist housed within a uniquely conceived glass vitrine stage at the Corvi-Mora gallery in South London.

This deeply personal story is revealed over the play's six-and-a-half-hour duration, as one actor gradually morphs into Martha now, aged 84, and may be watched in its entirety or in part. Conceived in dialogue with the temporal, spatial, and structural conventions of a gallery exhibition, 'Mother Has Arrived' begins the moment that the gallery opens to the public and is timed to finish when the gallery closes, and the Mother arrives. It is written, designed and directed by Than Hussein Clark and produced by The Director's Theatre Writer's Theatre.

The actors made a special trip to the US to meet Martha in person to support their research. 'Exeter' is played by Lewis Blomfield, and 'Essex' by Benedict Wishart. The prosthetic makeup artist is Aurora Beadle. Dramaturgy is by Laura Schuller, and the performance is supported by Voice Specialist Joe Windley, with movement direction by Luis Odriozola, and wardrobe supervision by Scout Kauffman.

Performance Schedule:
15 public performances, between 11.00am and 5.30pm

Thursday 4 September - Premiere (between 2.00pm and 8.30pm)
Friday 5 September
Saturday 6 September

Thursday 11 September
Friday 12 September
Saturday 13 September

Thursday 18 September
Friday 19 September
Saturday 20 September

Thursday 25 September
Friday 26 September
Saturday 27 September

Wednesday 1 October
Thursday 2 October
Friday 3 October

Artist: Than Hussein Clark

Category: Arts | Performing Arts | Theatre