On the end of March, I went back to the Schaubühne to watch a very interesting and intriguing piece, Kindheitsarchive by Caroline Guiela Nguyen. As expected, it was a fantastic show!
This play deals with a very heavy topic, that of adoption, and of the various conflicts that the adoption process creates. It weaves several stories, all converging in a fictional bureau for adoption. There are the stories of couples (heterosexual and homosexual) who want to adopt; of a single infertile woman, who is going through the process of trying to adopt a boy from Vietnam; of a young woman who found out that she was adopted and realises she has a brother in Russia; of the workers in the bureau themselves, who also have issues regarding the ethics of adoption. And none of these stories are happy, because in whatever angle one might look at, there's always a tough question one needs to ask, and the answers aren't always evident.
It was a tough show to watch, frankly speaking, and it made me realise what issues people who are adopted might face. As much as I am not an adopted child, to some extent I can relate. After all, I am disowned. The story is familiar.
Regarding the performance, it was brilliant. It was multilingual, with several sections in other languages: there was a Spanish conversation with an adoption agency in Colombia, a French conversation with the grandfather of an adopted child from Cameroon, and a Russian conversation with siblings (of which one was adopted). The language skills of the actors were definitely impressive.
Overall, it was a very moving performance, and something I absolutely recommend. If this play is showing near you, try your best to watch it.
