Madre de azúcar

Synopsis

Cloe twenty-seven years old, with a 65% intellectual disability and one wish: to be a mother. Faced with the lack of understanding of her environment, her mother and the foundation where she lives, Cloe embarks on a clumsy revolution to get pregnant at any price. On her journey, she will discover that the flag of protection has been used by those around her to take away her rights, including the right to make mistakes, the dignity of risk. And she will remember that when she was little, her older sister would take her to play football with her friends and she would tell them “Cloe doesn’t count, she’s made of sugar!”. That way they didn’t throw the ball too hard or tackle her. But her goals didn’t add up either. Cloe will realize all this and will confront the established power, challenging the laws of men. But the question of whether she would be a good mother will seep into her bones, like an Antigone torn between obeying divine or human laws.

Madre de azúcar (Sugar mother) reflects on the treatment we are giving as a society to people with disabilities with regard to motherhood. The assimilation of the jurisdiction of their bodies, overprotection as an excuse for the restriction of their freedom of decision. What gives a part of society the right to take over the bodies of women with disabilities? Are all people with disabilities unable to face motherhood? What is the capacity that makes us a good mother or a good father? Do all people who have children have it?

Note from the author and director

Madre de Azúcar was born from the experience for 16 years in Scenaris Specials, a project where we perform theatre with actors with disabilities (People with autism, mental illness, cerebral palsy, intellectual, physical or sensory diversity). In the classes, I realised that the subject of motherhood was a recurring theme, and that the improvisations always included a mother, a birth, a family, some children… so I spoke with some of the actresses about motherhood. Had they considered being mothers? And began a writing process that has lasted almost three years and that has resulted in this work. Andrea, Mercè, Marc and Judit helped me in the playwriting, their voices are there. Along the way, we come across moral dilemmas, taboos, injustices and unwritten historical protocols in social institutions: implanting subcutaneous contraceptives without informing the person, practising forced sterilization, “getting the idea of being a mother out of their heads” or simply not openly raising motherhood as a possibility to people who live in a foundation. All these practices are carried out under the pretext of protection. That reminds me of the expression “Ser de sucre” in Catalan, they used to say it to me when I played with older girls. “Being made of sugar” means that you participate in the game, but you do not count: if you lose you don’t have to pay, but your wins don’t add up. And it’s a bit like that, what we do with women with disabilities who want to be mothers, we relegate them to a safe place for them, without complications, without risk. But there is something underlying the idea of risk, pride, dignity. And that something is taken away from them too.

Clàudia Cedó