Maternal Ruptures/Raptures: Leakages of the real

This article, co-authored by Ildikó Rippel and Rosie Garton of Zoo Indigo Theatre Company, explores two performance works; Under the Covers (2009) and Blueprint (2012), devised and performed by the duo. Both works present live video links to family members of the performers. In Under the Covers the live video was streamed from the bedrooms of the performers’ four young children, and the duo asked the audience to babysit their sleeping children so that they could ‘get on with the show’ (Zoo Indigo 2009). In Blueprint live video links brought the performers’ mothers (four in total) into the performance space.

On occasions during the touring of both of these works, the relationship between the live performers on stage and the live streamed family members on screen caused unscripted reactions from the performers on stage. During a performance of Under the Covers, one of the crying babies prompted a let down effect for a breastfeeding performer. In Blueprint the sharing of anecdotes caused a performer on stage to cry. In these occasions the leaking of bodily fluids of milk and tears caused a momentary leakage of the Real into the Symbolic framework of theatre. This article uses the experience of performing these works to argue that the maternal body in performance has the capacity to cause a rupture, a fracture within representation, for a rapturous Real to emerge. The article draws on Psychoanalytical theory, specifically Jaques Lacan’s discussion of the Real, and Julia Kristeva’s writing on the semiotic chora.

Important note: Zoo Indigo is a collaborative partnership between Rosie Garton and Ildiko Rippel, the duo have been making performance work together since 2002. Many of their published articles/papers/chapters etc are co-authored, emulating the collaborative nature of their practice. This article uses previous Zoo Indigo works 'Under the Covers' and 'Blueprint' as case studies to examine authenticity in performance.