SHE WAS A FRIEND OF SOMEONE ELSE

German Premiere

What happens when you need to fight the same battles over and over again? In SHE WAS A FRIEND OF SOME-ONE ELSE, Gosia Wdowik documents the struggle for abortion rights in Poland, rights that were virtually abolished in October 2020. Starting from an issue of German magazine “stern” from the year 1971 in which 300 women reported about their abortions, she tells the story of the activists who strive to repeat this campaign in the Polish context. They encounter resistance on their path and suffer many setbacks – is quitting an option? Accompanied by the voice of a tired narrator, the performance presents some of these women. Gosia Wdowik herself lies on a mattress, silently. Her countless engagements have left her burnt out.

The evening enquires about the correlation between activism and burnout, telling, in a choir of women’s voices, through interview videos and Telegram chats, a tale of highs and lows in a struggle for the right to women’s self-determination. A story that has too many beginnings and not enough endings.