|
Erika Brincat speaks to playwright Carolyn Gage on Joan of Arc’s ‘second coming’
Carolyn Gage is a lesbian-feminist playwright, performer, director, and activist. The author of four books on lesbian theatre and 47 plays, musicals, and one-woman shows, she specialises in non-traditional roles for women, especially those reclaiming famous lesbians whose stories have been distorted or erased from history.
Gage’s collection of plays earned her a nomination as national finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in drama. In 2004, her play ‘Ugly Duckling’ was nominated by the American Theatre Critics Association for the prestigious ATCA/ Steinberg New Play Award, an award with given annually for the best new play produced outside New York. It won a 2004 Lesbian Theatre Award from Curve Magazine, and a documentary film has been made about the play as part of a national anti-harassment campaign. Gage's musical, The Amazon All-Stars is the first lesbian full-book musical ever published by a mainstream play publisher. Her manual on lesbian theatre production, “Take Stage! How to Direct and Produce a Lesbian Play” was also published.
She has served as a contributing editor to the American national feminist quarterly On The Issues, and she has been published in the Dramatists Guild Quarterly, The Harvard Gay and Lesbian Review, Trivia, Sinister Wisdom, Lesbian Ethics, The Lesbian Review of Books, The Michigan Quarterly Review and off our backs. The founder and director of three theatre companies, she is currently the artistic director of Cauldron & Labrys, an all-women theatre in Portland, Maine.
Writer of ‘The Second Coming of Joan of Arc’ showing at St James cavalier in between the 10 and 20 February, she talks to Erika Brincat about her creative work and campaigns.
How do you define ‘lesbian theatre’ and being a ‘lesbian –feminist playwright’?
I like to think of lesbian theatre as theatre that is by, for, about, and serving the interests of lesbians. As a lesbian-feminist, I write in the context of a global liberation movement for women.
Is it considered a ‘genre’ in itself?
Lesbian theatre seems very normal and natural to me. The question for me is this: “Why is theatre that distorts or erases the reality of women’s lives considered ‘mainstream?” I find it very odd that playwrights expect half their audiences to applaud narratives that misrepresent them.
Does it limit your audience in any way, or do you find heterosexuals also supportive and interested in your work?
I have certainly been subjected to a tremendous amount of censorship, but, in my experience, when my work is produced with integrity, the productions are well received and garner good reviews. It’s a rare and invigorating experience to listen in on the conversations of a marginalised community. I think that the lesbian perspective illuminates aspects of heterosexual culture that are rarely interrogated.
Is the inherent message and experience of a lesbian play, suitable for both men and women of different sexual inclinations?
For many years here in the US, the African American experience was heavily censored by mainstream theatre. It was not considered a “suitable” subject for mainstream drama, which was primarily supported by white theatergoers. Fortunately, this attitude has begun to change... although mainstream American theatre still has a long way to go in terms of really embracing racial diversity. I think that the taboo against lesbian plays is a similar phenomenon. Fear and ignorance about same-sex relationships have resulted in a prejudice that translates to censorship. Many heterosexuals have no other cultural referents for “lesbian”, except either pornography or hellfire rhetoric from the pulpit. Authentic lesbian narratives are usually a revelation.
In what ways is The Second Coming of Joan of Arc, an adaptation of the original version?
It is not an adaptation. It was inspired by Vita Sackville-West’s biography of Joan, which highlighted details of her personal life. Joan of Arc led an army to victory at seventeen. At eighteen, she arranged the coronation of a king. At nineteen, she went up against the entire Catholic Church and lost. Her trial lasted five months and the testimonies were carefully transcribed. There was testimony by her childhood playmates, by her parents, by the women who slept with her, by the soldiers who served under her, by the priests who confessed her, by those who witnessed and administered her torture. She is the most thoroughly documented figure of the fifteenth century. So why do the myths about the pious virgin, still pervade the history books? Joan was anorexic. She was a teenage runaway. She had an incestuous, alcoholic father. She slept with women. She died for her right to wear men’s clothing. She was defiant, irreverent, unrepentant, and unfailingly true to her own visions.
In The Second Coming of Joan of Arc, Joan returns to share her story with a contemporary audience. She tells her experiences with the highest levels of church, state, and military, and unmasks the brutal misogyny behind male institutions. Vita Sackville-West, lesbian writer and lover of Virginia Woolf, was one of the first to write a biography of Joan based on the complete translations of the trial transcripts. Her book is an attempt to uncover the truth about Joan and to reclaim her from the distortions and trivialisations of male historians. In writing ‘The Second Coming of Joan of Arc’, I have used Sackville-West's biography as the source of my information and inspiration.
Can you describe the concept of your campaign “Ugly Ducklings” and its main outreach and purpose in the States?
This is a campaign to raise awareness about harassment of gay and lesbian youth, especially in the schools. Too often teachers and administrators fail to protect the students, and this campaign, which includes a documentary film and community education kit, is designed to help people understand how destructive this harassment can be. Statistics show that gay and lesbian youth are at much greater risk for suicide than their heterosexual peers. When a gay or lesbian child is denied information about their community and their culture, what they are left with is the belief that there is something sick or evil about them. Gay and lesbian youth with no support can feel afraid to tell anyone what they know about themselves, and their isolation can be unbearable. There is more information about the campaign at www.hardygirlshealthywomen.org
What compels you to write about Lesbian Ethics and Feminist issues, and how do you feel your work has helped the advancement of women in today’s world?
There is still a tremendous silence about violence against women, and especially sexual violence, and especially child sexual abuse. These subjects are so universal and such core issues for women and girls, but they are rarely represented on the stage. The few times that they are, the focus seems to be to sensationalise them, or to apologise and/or protect the perpetrators. It has been my experience that lesbians, who are not attempting primary intimacy with men, have been more outspoken about what women suffer at the hands of men. A critique of patriarchy has been a traditional aspect of our art, our history, and our culture.
You have written the first meditation book for feminist activists, “Like There’s No Tomorrow: Meditations for Women Leaving Patriarchy.” Does it include philosophical ‘meditations’ or actual spiritual exercises for women?
This is a book designed to “encourage” women who are feeling beaten down by patriarchal institutions and abuses, and who may be at risk of blaming themselves.
Malta is an island with such a long history of traditional Catholic values; it can still be quite difficult and daring for lesbian women to ‘come out of the closet’. Do you have any words of encouragement for the local lesbian population?
We lesbians have such a proud, global history. I think that, whether or not a lesbian chooses to be “out”, she needs to seek out that history, reclaim it as her own, and experience in herself the pride of belonging to a community of such fearless warriors, such brilliant artists, and such radical thinkers.
Are there any other inspirational feminist writers you would encourage them to read?
Oh... So many! My mentors have included Andrea Dworkin, Mary Daly, Audre Lorde, Barbara Smith, John Stoltenberg, Diana E. H. Russell, but there are so many, writing in so many fields... eco-feminism, women’s spirituality, third wave women, etcetera.
As a successful playwright, can you recommend any Films or TV Shows, which portray lesbians in a realistic way?
Well, these days there is a Hollywood version of lesbians (see “The L Word”) that represents a kind of mainstreaming of lesbianism. The butch and
the lesbians of colour are censored, and lesbianism as a form of resistance
to hetero-patriarchy is muted. Really, the only lesbian film that ever reflected my experience of the community was Go Fish... and it’s about ten
years old now!
The Second Coming of Joan of Arc by Carolyn Gage is to be held on the 10-12, 18-20 February 2006 at 8.00 pm, at St James Cavalier’s Centre for Creativity. Directed by Michael Fenech, with Leigh Ann Abela as Joan of Arc. The price of tickets ranges between Lm4-5. The play is being supported by HSBC, The Malta Council for Culture and the Arts, Vodafone, and Surplus and Adventure Equipment Store.
For more information see www.carolyngage.com.
Carolyn Gage was talking to Erika Brincat
|
