The New York Times: The historical Joan of Arc was a peasant, a soldier, a mystic and a martyr. A shepherdess who heard the voices of saints in the sound of church bells, she led the French army toward decisive victories in the Hundred Years’ War before being tried for heresy, witchcraft and cross-dressing. In 1431, she was burned at the stake, and then she was burned again.
3 comments:
This article was not very well edited in my opinion. It was obviously really cool to read about Condola Rashad and her work preparing to play such a large historic role, especially considering that Joan of Arc is a pretty important womxn in history. However I felt as though a lot of the syntax and coding of the language made it seem as though the author didn't trust Condola's ability to truly understand the character. For example, when the author writes " Would she be more {than enthused}? I worried all the way home" they are downplaying this actresses ability to play the character in the way that feels emotionally truthful to them. I know that white womxn often don't fully unpack all of their syntax and coding when they speak of black womxn but they really should considering that it is not infrequent that I read this type of coding that suggests that a black person is not better at doing their job than the white person who doesn't have their job is. I don't think the article was blatently racist but it did feel a little unsettling and pretty heavily coded.
I’m all about this new casting for Joan of Arc. Actress Condola Rashad embodies the joy, peace and steadfastness of one of my favorite saints. I really like that she’s not playing Joan as angry, only convicted, passionate, and honest. It’s such a relieving change from some of the Catholic theatre you see that just tries to find the worst in people and showcase that, when the point is all about striving to be better and loving. You don’t have to show them being perfect all the time, but you also don’t have to only focus on the failings the person and bypass the redemption that comes with stories of the lives of the saints. I’m really excited for Condola to be the leading role also because of the part of the article talking about when she was reading the mean Reddit posts and instead of getting angry, she felt sorry for the complainers because they were missing out on the story. It speaks to her character and how she will be mirroring that as Joan.
Condola Rashad’s perspective on Joan of Arc is fascinating. I think the idea that Joan is not angry but rather speaking her mind and ahead of her time makes a lot of sense. It also sounds more interesting to watch than someone just being angry. Though I do not know this specific play or version of Joan of Arc’s story, Rashad’s perspective makes sense. Also, the article paints a beautiful picture of Rashad and her knowledge of the time period and cultural context surrounding the play. It is wonderful when someone is so devoted to their craft and invests so much time and energy into understanding the world. I’m sure that this extra knowledge is why the directors that she has previously worked with have described her as mature and empathetic. I would love to see Rashad’s interpretation of the role. The one thing that I wished the article included was a description of other elements in the production.
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