Review: Joan

I often find myself unable to articulate what I feel, think and experienced after seeing a Rabble show, and JOAN was no different, so here’s my best shot at trying to speak about it.

JOAN is an experimental theatre production exploring the story of Joan of Arc. It has no plot or story and very little dialogue, and it is made mainly of images inspired primarily from Joan of Arc. A lot of the show is quite visceral, not only in the performers' bodies, but also in all the elements of production, including sound design and stage design, it was very uncomfortable in it’s imagery but also very beautiful. It speaks to and explores why Joan of Arc has been retold so many times and why she is so significant. And to my understanding the story of Joan of Arc is also used as vessel to explore women’s/females bodily autonomy, and violence.

As always in The Rabble shows, the direction, light, sound, and design of this work was impeccable, some of the most beautiful lighting design and a beautiful use of the space in theatre works.

I usually can understand the relevance and the politics behind The Rabble's work, but I found JOAN to be a bit disappointing on that part. I felt this show was a series of images inspired by Joan of Arc put together on stage, although they were all interesting and beautiful, there was no retailing that was relevant to contemporary Australia or modern feminism. It felt a bit reserved and I really wanted a lot more political commentary, The Rabble are usually so good at that!

Unfortunately I was dissatisfied with this production, The Rabble are usually so great at making a politically charged, beautiful disgusting masterpiece but yeah, unfortunately it was just beautiful disgusting this time round for me.

All that being said, The Rabble are theatre genius and I will keep supporting them until they disband or I die.

Written by Finley Fletcher

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