Missions Of Beauty - Holofernes Moments

"Looking good means you'll be raped more frequently than others," is the first thing Judith from Kinshasa says, and she speaks from experience. Judith from Berlin cuts herself with a razor blade, because she doesn’t conform to any known idea of beauty. And Judith from Betulia poisons her husband and her sons just to get some quiet time.

Sibylle Berg’s eight "Holofernes moments" appear to be randomly picked from world events: eight spotlit monologues by women of different ages and different nationalities, talking about injuries and scars, about self-mutilation and the evisceration of others, about death and destruction. They don't do this with a biblical imperative, but almost casually and deadpan, at times patchy, sometimes with frightening clarity, and at other times in complete self-denial - but always inflected with a dark bitter humour.

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