Joan of Arc gender storm
Globe Theatre is accused of ‘violating’ history as it makes martyr... non-binary
SHAKESPEARE’S Globe Theatre will portray Joan of Arc as non- binary in a production, sparking controversy around the depiction of the historical icon.
The new play called I, Joan, opening on August 25, describes the 15th century French heroine as ‘rebelling against the world’s expectations,’ and ‘questioning the gender binary’.
Publicity for the drama appears to use the pronouns ‘they’ and ‘them’ in reference to the character and the Globe confirmed yesterday that these will be used in the show.
Frank Furedi, a professor of sociology at the University of Kent, said that the choice not to depict Joan as a woman but as non-binary ‘violates’ the meaning of history and redefines her in modern terms not applicable to her time. But the theatre has backed its decision to do so, suggesting that Shakespeare himself would have condoned such a representation of Joan, who is being played by Isobel Thom.
Joan of Arc, born in 1412, is a patron saint of France who led armies into battle against the English in the Hundred Years’ War – winning several of them – before being captured and handed over to her enemy.
She was convicted of heresy and burned at the stake in 1431, at the age of 19.
Professor Furedi argued that while ‘playwrights are allowed to have a bit of poetic license’, the production is attempting to ‘rewrite’ history. He added: ‘Someone like Joan of Arc would not have any idea what non-binary was. It is a re-characterisation of something that did not even exist at the time.’
The play is written by Charlie Josephine, who said of the production: ‘ It’s going to be this big sweaty, queer, revolution, rebellion, festival of, like, joy.
‘Joan was this working- class, young person, who was transgressing gender at a time when it as really dangerous and that just felt instantly relatable to me. I was assigned female at birth. I’m nonbinary, I’m from a working- class background. I’ve often felt like I’ve had something to say and haven’t been given permission to say it.’
Michelle Terry, artistic director of the Globe, argued that Shakespeare did not write historically accurate plays, but used figures from the past to ‘ask questions about today’s world’. Joan believed herself chosen by God to lead France to victory against England.
After convincing Charles of Valois, France’s crown prince at the time, to let her take the army into the city of Orleans, she emerged victorious, before being captured by English allies. She was tried for witchcraft, heresy and dressing as a man – among some 70 charges. She was later sentenced to death.
Some 20 years later, however, a new trial ordered by Charles VII cleared her name and Joan was canonised by the Catholic Church in 1920.
‘Did not exist at the time’