A theater in the United Kingdom will perform a play later this month on Joan of Arc in which the lead character will use “they/them” pronouns.
The play performed at Shakespeare’s Globe theater in London, I, Joan, describes Joan as someone who is “rebelling against the world’s expectations” and “questioning the gender binary.” Michelle Terry, the theater’s artistic director, described the theater as “a place of imagination” where people can consider “the possibility of world’s elsewhere,” she said in a statement regarding the play’s portrayal of Joan.
PRIVATE SCHOOL SAYS KINDERGARTNER CAN’T ATTEND BECAUSE OF SAME-SEX PARENTS
“Shakespeare did not write historically accurate plays,” she added. “He took figures of the past to ask questions about the world around him. Our writers of today are doing no different, whether that’s looking at Ann Boleyn, Nell Gwynn, Emilia Bassano, Edward II, or Joan of Arc.”
Terry also said that using the pronoun “they” to refer to one person has been traced by the Oxford English Dictionary to as early as 1375, which was “years before Joan was even born.” Joan of Arc has received “countless and wonderful examples” of her past portrayals, and the theater’s performance in this play is “simply offering the possibility of another point of view,” she added.
Several people on social media expressed their disapproval of the play’s portrayal of Joan, while others joked that she would not have been burned at the stake if she “had known she could just identify out of being a woman.”
Just as we were starting to celebrate and elevate these powerful female icons from history it turns out they weren’t actually women after all! Whoodathunkit?! ? https://t.co/tCLYx3CzVF
— Milli Hill (@millihill) August 12, 2022
SHE is the patron saint of France, martyrs, prisoners, military personnel. Not they. She. https://t.co/hv7zY6BmPX
— Christina Jordan (@CJordanjb) August 12, 2022
Ahh if only Joan had known she could just identify out of being a woman then she’d have never been burned at the stake! Silly Joan, sort out your pronouns, luv https://t.co/ScbwFTGGsP
— Hadley Freeman (@HadleyFreeman) August 12, 2022
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Joan will be performed by Isobel Thom, an actress who uses “they/them” pronouns. The play is also written by Charlie Josephine, who goes by the pronouns “they/he.”
The play will be performed from Aug. 25 through Oct. 22.
