MO(R)D is a site-specific choreographic work where the audience is confronted with the most forbidden thought—killing in the name of love. It is a staging where the audience walks close to the dancers in an authentic setting; the Spinnhuset / Women’s Prison at Gullbergsbrohemmet, Gothenburg.

In MO(R)D, archives about women’s fates in Swedish criminal history approximately 100 years ago are explored through modern contemporary dance and multidisciplinary performing arts. The piece starts with the case of Anna Månsdotter, also known as the Yngsjö murder, from 1889, when a young woman was murdered by her husband and mother-in-law. Both were sentenced to death for the murder. The husband was pardoned, but Anna Månsdotter was executed by decapitation, also being the last woman to be executed in Sweden.

The work is an independent continuation of Benedikte Esperi’s exploration of historiography and the depiction of women’s fates both nationally and internationally. In the work MOD (2016), Esperi posed the questions to both participants and spectators: “Who has the courage to act independently in a collective agreement?” and “Who represents the collective?” In MO(R)D, she draws clear parallels to its predecessor in methodology, content, and execution. She continues to research moral dilemmas, exclusion, and twists the concepts of victim and perpetrator.