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Lizbett Benge

Bio

Lizbett Benge, is a native of Seattle, Washington, USA and is a certified labor and birth doula, playwright, and performer. She is a third year doctoral student in the Gender Studies program at Arizona State University. As a scholar-artist, Lizbett works at the intersections of theatre, mother studies, and feminist praxis. Her research interests include: ethnotheatre, the US child welfare system, mothering, and intergenerational trauma. Her art combines the above material with movement, voice, and breath to create pieces that are political, vulnerable, and ephemeral. This work is guided by a desire for community, healing, resistance, and the presentation of counter-narratives.

Abstract

I am a cis-gender white woman who spent fourteen years in the foster care system. There are many whom I have called “mom,” some bound by law, some by love, some by blood, and some by necessity. At twenty-two years old, I became/stepped into mothering/motherhood/a mother. When beginning Momologues, I already completed what I thought was my finished degree project, ILL, an auto-biographical solo show that traced poverty, physical abuse, incest, and mental illness throughout my motherline. It felt out of sync to present ILL by itself. What other stories of mothering, motherhood, and mothers existed? Were there any other plays like mine? Were there other people like me? After being met with silence every time I asked these questions, I decided to generate some answers.

Momologuing: A Theatrical Exploration of Women’s Relationships to Motherhood

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