Mula / Mule

Description

Mike is ready. He waits. Today, he will unveil the monument MULA: Forbidden to Forget.
He lives by a motto: “If we forget the past, we’re damned!”
Mike recalls the time when he saw inhumanity in people’s eyes. The era when hurricanes of drugs, armed robberies (atrakos), and brutal revenge swept through Curaçao, leaving a trail of destruction behind. Now, he speaks of the next storm, one that is coming, and one we are not prepared for. Our only hope? Our memories.

MULA is a powerful, haunting performance about one of the darkest periods in Curaçao’s recent history. A time when ‘drug mules’ filled the departure halls of Hato Airport, risking their lives to escape poverty, repay debts, or simply to party. Many didn’t survive. MULA gives voice to these victims of the relentless pursuit of fast money.

The years between 1997 and 2007 continue to shape Curaçao’s social and political landscape. Even though many young people today didn’t experience that era firsthand, they’ve grown up in a society deeply marked by moral erosion. A place where parents used baby diapers to smuggle drugs, and bodies were seen as containers. Since then, the boundaries of behavior, violence, and self-worth have shifted and seem to blur more with every generation.

In MULA, Albert Schoobaar delivers a gripping solo performance that lays bare the full range of his talent. His raw, vulnerable storytelling strikes a deep emotional chord, one meant to awaken both current and future generations. The piece was written by Schoobaar and co-directed by Milushka Birge and Schoobaar himself.