Subbacultcha had a chat with Dounia Mahammed

If you handle cornstarch roughly, it repels you. But if you treat it with kindness, the substance allows you to sink into it. Just like a binding agent, dramaturge Dounia Mahammed is looking for connection: between cornstarch and human nature, between our experience with time and how we approach others. Instead of soups, she connects elements from our daily life. Yet most of all she connects us: upcoming performance w a t e r w a s w a s s e r is a plea against prejudice. We had a chat with Dounia and pianist and collaborator Alan Van Rompuy about normality, the unknown and the making of w a t e r w a s w a s s e r.

Were you already making theater as a kid?

Dounia: Yes and no. I didn’t really write theater pieces but I did make performances with my sister and whoever was around. We proudly presented our plays to my mom and dad at home. I followed theatre at the music academy and even after class, my friend and I would be preparing things for our teachers, without them asking. (Laughs)

How did w a t e r w a s w a s s e r get its name?

Dounia: It took some time, the name changed a lot. I wanted to talk about fluidity, about the fluid interior we all share. Literally, as we’re mostly made out of water. And figuratively, as it’s a symbol for our emotions. I consider crying as a way of sharing our fluid interior. Our fluid interior is something unpredictable and constantly changing, something opposite to efficiency and control. Even if it is something we try hard to control in order to function in everyday life.

Moving from your first performance Salut Copain to your second w a t e r w a s w a s s e r, a one-man show became a duo performance. How come?

Dounia: Alan was rehearsing for a little festival we organized in our barn while I was proofreading my text to some people. They really liked the piano on the background. I asked myself: how come it never occurred to me? There was no doubt Alan had to join me during the performance, but it was very close to the premiere. It could go wrong, but we know each other well, personally and on an artistic level. It all went down naturally.
Alan: I started from improvisation, yet some things recur in each show, like two songs we play. During the rehearsals we were mostly working on the language we would speak. I was thinking about how I would reflect the text rather than what I will play.
Elies: There’s a little beetle sitting in your hair, Alan.
Alan: Really?
Dounia: Did you put it there on purpose? (Laughs)