Saint Joan of Arc is presented in the play I, Joan (Eu, Joana) as a nonbinary figure treated with neuter pronouns only. Management at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, where the play will premiere on August 25, say the work explores “the possibility of a different perspective”.
Recognized by the Catholic Church as a saint and patron saint of France, Joan of Arc played a key role in the Siege of Orleans between 1428 and 1429, a major French military victory over the English during the Hundred Years’ War. Moved by vision and faith, she went into battle armed at just 18 years old.
The play was scripted by Charlie Josephine, a nonbinary author; and the actress who will play Joana is Isobel Thom, also nonbinary. Directed by Ilinca Radulian. On Twitter is the Globe Theater said the play isn’t the first to portray Joan of Arc as nonbinary. “Our new play I, Joan features Joan as a legendary leader using the pronouns ‘they/they’. We’re not the first to introduce Joan in this way, and we won’t be the last. We can’t wait to share this production with everyone and discover this cultural icon.”
Our new play I, Joan features Joan as a legendary leader using the pronouns “they/they”. We’re not the first to present Joan in this way, and we won’t be the last. We can’t wait to share this production with everyone and discover this cultural icon.https://t.co/19T7baWsRk pic.twitter.com/lrgOC59TvQ
— Shakespeare’s Globe (@The_Globe) August 11, 2022
The production aims to “challenge the binary genre” and “offer an opportunity for a different perspective,” said Michelle Terry, artistic director of the theatre, which is a modern reconstruction of the original theater of the world’s most famous playwright, William Shakespeare. is .
“Theaters produce plays, and in the play anything can be possible. Shakespeare did not write historically accurate plays. He used numbers from the past to ask questions about the world around him,” she said. Michelle explained that this reading is consistent with the Oxford English Dictionary, which traces the use of the pronoun “they” even to a single person as far back as 1375, well before Joan of Arc.
Gaming could be an attempt to rewrite history
However, not everyone believes in a nonbinary Saint Joan of Arc. Frank Furedi, professor emeritus at the University of Kent, is quoted by British newspaper The Times as saying he fears the play is an opportunity to “rewrite history”. “Someone like Joan of Arc would have no idea what it was like to be nonbinary. It’s a reimagining of something that didn’t even exist back then,” Furedi said, calling the project “a fantasy turned on its head.”
Joan of Arc was considered a heretic because of her views and was sentenced to death. In 1431 it was burned at the stake. The church solemnly rehabilitated Joan of Arc in 1456. Pius X. beatified her in 1910 and ten years later Benedict XV. she holy.