Michael Denzer on Saint Joan of the Stockyards, “Salto”, November 21 2024

In the meat grinder of modern times
Michael Denzer, “Salto”, November 21st 2024
https://salto.bz/en/article/21112024/im-fleischwolf-der-moderne
“[…] Mauler (Danilo Nigrelli), an evil, though not trivially evil, canned meat magnate is one of the great talents of the evening alongside the “Saint” Joan.
Naked in the glass bathtub, which is filled with theatrical blood as the evening progresses, he rises and is dressed in blood-red robes by his assistant; an oversized head appears in the black. Chicago is called by the friends at the stock exchange, the market is out of balance and there is too little demand for too much canned meat. Stockyards are closing and destitute people are suddenly out on the streets, the help of the “Black Hats” – Brecht’s “Black Straw Hats” were a critical reinterpretation of the Salvation Army – is merely a sticking plaster on a bullet wound. […]
This version of the Salvation Army is also merely an expression of a sick system and vividly illustrates the lack of any solidarity between the classes. […]”