Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre is reinventing the story of St Joan of Arc in an upcoming production in which the French-Catholic heroine will be portrayed as a non-binary “queer” character.
The Globe announced its decision in a tweet, “Our new play ‘I, Joan’ shows Joan as a legendary leader who uses the pronouns ‘they/them’. We are not the first to present Joan in this way and we will not be the last. We can’t wait to share this production with everyone and discover this cultural icon”.
The news has prompted a backlash in Catholic circles, with several taking to Twitter to voice their dismay. One said the Globe Theatre interpretation detracts from the heroic life of St Joan of Arc and erases the dignity of womanhood.
To Catholics, St Joan of Arc symbolises chastity and courageous femininity as the woman who sacrificed her life in the pursuit of truth.
The theatre’s announcement has led some to speak out against how far it takes artistic liberties.
“Please stop saying amazing women aren’t really women” wrote Abigail Favale, a Catholic professor and expert on gender studies.
Favale authored “The Genesis of Gender: A Christian Theory”, which approaches gender from a perspective informed by Church teaching.
Sophie Walker, co-founder of The Activate Collective which raises money for women to run in elections, also tweeted: “When I was a little girl, Joan of Arc presented thrilling possibilities about what one young girl could do against massed ranks of men. Rewriting her as not female and presenting it as progress is a massive disappointment.”
In a statement on Friday, the play’s artistic director Michelle Terry said, “History has provided countless, and wonderful examples of Joan portrayed as a woman. This production is simply offering the possibility of another point of view.”
Terry argued that play adaptations make “anything possible” because “theatres do not deal with ‘historical reality’.”