Rebecca Biscuit X Heather Bandenburg
Mummy Vs
Content warning: contains strong language, mentions of post-natal depression and mental illness. Not suitable for U18s.
If the first year of a child’s life is so important, what effect does it have if this happens in a global pandemic? During lockdown, in the UK cases of post-natal depression increased by 300% as new parents found their expectations turned upside down. Mummy Vs was a show that examined the effect of COVID on the childcare crisis and the pressures on new parents, bringing the domestic to life in the spectacular nature of a wrestling show.
Using interviews with other parents, artist Heather Bandenburg shared her journey through the first year of motherhood and the battles she fought in her head within the backdrop of lockdown Britain. Peppa Pig fighting a child’s imagination; the NHS sizing up to budget cuts – all bought vividly to life by a cast of 13 professional wrestlers. This is parenthood, celebrated for all of its fighting tenacity.
As part of DISRUPT, Mummy Vs shared a digital premiere of a work in progress performance. This was followed by a Q&A with the cast on wrestling for a theatre setting; and a Zoom workshop by Bandenburg on applications of wrestling to performance art.
Image used with permission from Rebecca Biscuit and Heather Bandenburg.
the commission
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My Baby Doesn't Eat/Sleep/Like Me
This related collaboration between Bandenburg and Biscuit examines many of the themes of 'Mummy Vs' and makes more use of the interviews used in the show. It's a short film that explores the way that parents used Google in lockdown, and what, if any, toolkits we create to cope with looking after a baby.
https://dontgoogleit.org/
Interview with Heather for 'Grapple Theory'
This article by Jamie Walker of podcast Grapple Theory provides an insight in to creating Mummy Vs with a cast of wrestlers who haven't wrestled for over a year.
'Heather Bandenburg vs. Peppa Pig' for Standard Issue Podcast
This episode of feminist podcast magazine Standard Issue features Jen Offord interviewing Heather about being an artist and parent; the attraction of wrestling as a medium of expression, and her beef with Peppa Pig.
https://play.acast.com/s/standardissuespodcast/simep507chops208-heatherbandenburgvspeppapig
ABOUT THE COLLABORATORS
Heather Bandenburg is a wrestler turned performance artist who celebrates every day resilience through personal, unashamedly positive work. She has wrestled across London since 2012, and is the creator of cabaret night, I Need to Cher (The Space, Camden People’s Theatre). Mummy Vs is her first show about her experiences as a parent, and not about Cher.
The team working on the show includes: Rebecca Biscuit (one half of Sh!t Theatre); Claire Heafford (Reset Lab, House of Mirth)& Thomas Dawkins (Cara Noir). The cast is made up of a mix of wrestlers from Pro Wrestling, including Eve, Burning Hearts and Lucha Britannia.