This daring performance tells the authentic stories of women living on the margins of society. It is inspired by interviews carried out in a women’s prison and a shelter for homeless women and mothers with children. This performance by the activist ensemble Womenstate was, in 2019, nominated for WARTO – a prestigious cultural award of the Gazeta Wyborcza Daily. Starring one actress, it gives visibility and voice to marginalized and oppressed women from disadvantaged backgrounds. On stage, the Womenstate comes to life – a utopian state operating in an alternative reality where women define the law. The powerful voice of the queen-mother becomes the voice of all the silenced.

Womenstate
An informal Polish group of female artists and social activists has been founded in 2019, building on the successful work of the Womenstate Collective. Its focus is on disadvantaged women and the effort to empower women who are marginalized as a result of their life situation. Therefore, many activities take place where these women live: in correctional facilities, in shelters or in prisons. There, Womenstate stages theater performances or organizes artistic workshops in which they involve the clients of the facilities, who become active artists. The leading figure of Womenstate is actress, theater director and social activist Agnieszka Bresler. Other members include Martyna Dębowska, Iwona Konecka, Magdalena Mróz and Anna Skubik. Womenstate has received numerous awards for its work. Given the current political situation in Poland, where women’s rights are systematically restricted, the work of women activists and artists is considered a courageous social gesture.