Synopsis
As the disappearance of their small religious community looms, the Helper Nuns begin sorting through their life — a lifetime of struggles. These valiant all-terrain militants, who believe in God but not in a Church dominated by men, have spent years and years campaigning for women’s rights, social justice and international solidarity. Between apprehension about death, outbursts of laughter and meals washed down with wine, these dignified free women live the meaning of sisterhood to the fullest. Until the very end.
A word from Tënk
Sometimes, weariness prevails.
The weight of injustice. The unbearable feeling of being stuck. The forces of inertia. History repeating itself, tirelessly.
Sometimes, the action seems derisory. The only possible way out of the crisis becomes half-sleep; to let things happen. Not to hope too much. Do not fight. Do not struggle.
And it is enough, sometimes, that in its blind spot, a person gets agitated, snorts, arches his back. And then, in a shiver of the soul, we remember: this is what it means to be alive.
Sometimes it's enough for a group of ''old nuns" to toast the social struggle and the end of patriarchy in a Montreal seniors' residence for us to remember that there is only one life, and that weariness can wait until later. The struggle does not wait. Neither does joy.
Naomie Décarie-Daigneault
Tënk's Artistic Director
Presented in collaboration with
