BARBARA LEHTNA

Monstera Deliciosa is a climbing plant with huge perforated leaves that has been popular in clinics, schools, libraries, other public spaces, and private homes for more than 30 years. The plant purifies indoor air effectively, yet blossoms very rarely and is poisonous by nature. Monstera is low maintenance and not very fussy, yet monstrous due to its ability to take over a space if not trimmed regularly.

Most species in nature work together to survive and adapt to changes around them. Nature fills in the blanks without regret - the key is to keep the complex web of organisms alive. In the chamber opera Monstera Deliciosa, four women from different generations come together on stage and reveal a kinship in their relationships with plants and fellow human beings while sharing their everyday stories. These stories, based on interviews with more than 20 women from Latvia and Estonia, give us glimpses into their world through a woman's point of view. The narrative of their lives is not driven by conflict but is developed through the notions of desire and curiosity. The opera plays with elements of the "natural" and the "synthetic" to mark a space between living and man-made to collectively seek not only a contemporary and feminist stage language but also alternative ways of being together.