ELECTRAS von REUT SHEMESH

ANGER, ANDROIDS, RITUAL. MOTHERHOOD.

The play explores the ambivalence of bringing a child into a brutal world and the desire to find meaning through motherhood.

A body full of contradictions: exhausted yet unstoppable, fragile yet unyielding. Shemesh works with performers of different ages and genders to challenge traditional notions of motherhood. Personal stories collide with societal stereotypes and clichés that define motherhood, exposing the gap between lived reality and idealized roles. With ELECTRAS, Reut Shemesh continues her exploration of the theme, which began with her play “Bad Mothers” (2022), a commissioned work for Theater Oberhausen.

The emotional strain caused by mirrored identities collides with gender-specific expectations within mother-daughter relationships.

ABOUT THE

TEAM

Choreography, Artistic Direction: Reut Shemesh

Performance: Paula Pau, Lucija Romanova, Brit Rodemund, Beatrix Trisha Simkó, Enis Turan

Rehearsal Director / Artistic Assistant: Katja Pire

Music: Simon Bauer

Costume Design: Andrea Barba

Set, Lighting, and Video Design: Ronni Shendar

Graphic Design: Florian Egermann

PR: Anna Luella Zahner

Production: Sabina Stücker

Financial Management: transmissions GmbH

ARTIST

Reut Shemesh

is an Israeli with Iranian and Iraqi roots, a choreographer and media artist who has lived in Cologne with her family for over ten years. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the ArtEZ Institute of the Arts in Arnhem (NL) and a master’s degree from the Academy of Media Arts (KHM) in Cologne (DE). Under the theme of “Uniforms,” Reut Shemesh explores clichés and portraiture in her work. She views identity as a story we tell ourselves—and in which we ultimately rediscover, reenact, dance, and embody traces of entirely different stories. Her pieces have been presented at venues including Tanzplattform Deutschland, the Impulse Theater Festival, and tanz nrw, and have toured to various international festivals and venues in Europe, Israel, and the U.S. Her youth production *ULTRA* (2023), a co-production with the Belgian production company fABULEUS, toured for two years through various cities in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Denmark. Her commissioned works include ANACONDA (2025) for the dance ensemble at Theater Gießen, ESTHER (2024)—which most recently opened the tanz nrw Festival 2025—and Bad Mothers (2022) for Theater Oberhausen. She was also selected as one of three artists to realize a new project as part of the newly conceived program “Neue Auftraggeber: Kunst im Bürger*innenauftrag” (New Commissioners: Art on Behalf of Citizens). In November 2025, tanzhaus nrw Düsseldorf will present her latest piece, ELECTRAS. Reut Shemesh was a Factory Artist at tanzhaus nrw in Düsseldorf, an Artist in Residence at K3 at Kampnagel in Hamburg, and has received numerous awards for her work. She regularly gives lectures at various colleges and universities and, together with dramaturg Matthias Quabbe, has published the book *Symmetry, Alibis and Intuition*, which explores her choreographic methodology and

language.

www.reutshemesh.com