Chantal Boiron on Saint Joan of the Stockyards, “UBU Scènes d’Europe / European Stages”, n. 76/77, 2° semester 2024

Santa Giovanna dei Macelli
A Rock-infused and Futuristic Brecht, But Very Timely
Chantal Boiron, “UBU Scènes d’Europe / European Stages”, n. 76/77, 2° semester 2024
https://ubu-apite.org/numero-76-77-les-artistes-europeens-et-la-montee-de-lextreme-droite-european-artists-and-the-rise-of-the-far-rightnumero-74-75-les-artistes-face-a-linterdit-artists-facing-the-forbidden/

“[…] This permanent multilingualism gives rise to a new language which is both familiar and foreign. Credit must be given to the way the piece is acted and directed which makes everything appear consistent and coherent. Projected images of cattle and poultry being slaughtered, and excerpts of films showing protests, bring us back to the harsh reality of our world and the actual conditions of workers in the slaughterhouses.

Elegant and sexy in her long black dress, slit up the side, Joan Dark comes to see Mauler to warn him of the workers’ situation. He receives her in his smart-looking red pyjamas. Their conversation takes place beside the bathtub. Agata Tomšič has given her character a very particular tone of voice: one that is “low, deep, seductive, extremely somber.” Mauler gives her a red rose. She accepts the money he offers her because he says he loves her “naïve, innocent face.” It’s a great seduction scene. At the same time, blood is dripping, drop by drop, into the bathtub, reminding us that Pierpont Mauler, businessman, has only his own interests at heart, even when he pretends to want only to be “a good man, and not a butcher anymore. […]”