“Gibson’s punked up version of the passion of St Joan is an electric, ground-breaking production…Gibson extracts an iconic religious figure from history and grafts her onto a contemporary stage”
“Janie Gibson channels the spirit of Joan of Arc in this breathtaking performance that addresses us, involves us – and makes us complicit in the outcomes…But we’re not just an audience, we’re part of this trial, this ritual – …we’re the ones building the bonfire and placing candles in the pyre; it is up to us whether it’s to burn or to remember…she delivers a powerful history lesson that still needs to be learned, where the questioner may be silenced, but the questions remain”.
“Janie has established herself as a powerful and original performance maker”
WHALE CHORUS PRESENTS
Voices Of Joan
Voices of Joan is a feminist punk ritual unravelling the history of misogyny through a radical retelling of the story of Joan of Arc. In an intimate solo performance, Janie Gibson searches for Joan’s voice in fragments of words throughout history; words spoken at her trial, translated in textbooks, imagined in poetry and illuminated in drama. What is revealed is an ancient story about gender, truth and power with startling reverberations today. With direction by Anu Almagro (Song Of the Goat Theatre), Gibson transforms into the multitudinous voices of Joan: from the teenage warrior, to the fervent revolutionary, to the bishop that tried her. Using wit, humour and multiple on stage costume changes Gibson pokes fun at the patriarchy, rallies the crowd from behind her megaphone and invites the audience to build Joan’s pyre with her. With a wireless radio as her ‘time machine’ she tunes into echoes of Joan’s story throughout history in search of a road map for resistance in our uncertain times.
ABOUT
Artistic Team
Performer and Creator: Janie Gibson
Director and Creator: Anu Almagro
Lighting Design: Fausto Brusamolino
Composition & Sound Design: Liesl Pieterse
Additional Composition: Xani Kolac and Toecutter
Dramaturgy: Emilie Collyer
This project is proudly supported by New Annual festival, the City of Newcastle, Arts on Tour, the NSW Government through Create NSW, TAIKE Arts Promotion Centre Finland and L’Escorxador Cultural Centre Elche, Spain.
