Karolina Bugajak on Saint Joan of the Stockyards, “SeeStage”, November 18 2024

Saint Joan of the Stockyards
Karolina Bugajak, “SeeStage”, November 18th 2024
https://seestage.org/reviews/saint-joan-of-the-stockyards-laibach/
“[…] The play is made up of several scenes with a specific aesthetic, which are interspersed with each other. These are further divided into segments featuring Mauler and his assistant with Joan, Joan with the workers, and Mauler and the other businessmen, who interact through video calls. Additionally, news reports are displayed like a recurring refrain between scenes in which a journalist with an American accent delivers updates on the stock market, its conditions, rising tensions, and protests. All of this is presented in a dark aesthetic. The only contrasting colours are white and red. The workers’ uniforms are white while red serves as the background colour for the news flashes that frequently pops up on screen and is also the colour of the liquid that falls into a transparent bathtub in which Mauler lies naked. This bathtub is the only object on the stage which intrigues the audience. The use of technology, modern furniture on stage, and contemporary costumes aim to bring Brecht’s story into a modern context. The performance uses projectors and animation is displayed during the songs. In addition, recordings of meat grinding are projected from time to time, giving the stage the character of a butcher’s shop and also revealing a further interpretative layer referring to the working masses as meat that is exploited by the richest. […]”