Saint Joan of the Stockyards

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Saint Joan of the Stockyards (in German: Die Heilige Johanna der Schlachthöfe) is a play written by Bertolt Brecht between 1929 and 1931, after the success of his musical The Threepenny Opera and during the period of his radical experimental work with the Lehrstücke. Brecht's play is based on Elisabeth Hauptmann's musical Happy End.[1] Brecht's version of Saint Joan transforms Joan of Arc into 'Joan Dark', a member of the 'Black Straw Hats' (a Salvation Army-like group) in twentieth-century Chicago. The play charts Joan's battle with Pierpont Mauler, the unctuous owner of a meat-packing plant. Like her predecessor, Joan is a doomed woman, a martyr and (initially, at least) an innocent in a world of strike-breakers, fat cats, and penniless workers. Like many of Brecht's plays it is laced with humor and songs as part of its epic dramaturgical structure. Brecht used this play to create a heroic drama in essence, to ridicule the heroic drama. The play also crudely objectifies religion, which prevents men from helping themselves.

The play was broadcast on Berlin Radio on the 11th April, 1932, with Carola Neher as Joan and Fritz Kortner as Mauler. The cast also included Helene Weigel, Ernst Busch, Peter Lorre, Paul Bildt and Friedrich Gnass. The play did not receive its first theatrical production until the 30th April, 1959, at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg, after Brecht's lifetime. Brecht asked Gustaf Gründgens to direct, with set-design by Caspar Neher and music by Siegfried Franz. Hanna Hiob played Joan.[1]

Contents

[edit] Characters

  • Pierpont Mauler, the Meat King
  • Cridle, a meat packer
  • Workers
  • Newsboys
  • Joan Dark
  • Martha, a Black Straw Hat
  • Sally, a Black Straw Hat
  • Paula Snyder, a major in the Black Straw Hats
  • Jackson, a Black Straw Hat
  • Graham, a meat packer
  • Lennox, a meat packer
  • Meyers, a meat packer
  • Detectives/Reporters
  • Sullivan Slift, a broker and advisor to Mauler
  • Wholesaler
  • Stockbreeder


[edit] Popular Culture References

  • In Benoit Jacques' 2006 film, Intouchable, L, the main character, Jeanne (Le Besco), relinquishes the lead role of Saint Joan of the Stockyards to find her father in India.

[edit] Works Cited

  • Willett, John. 1959. The Theatre of Bertolt Brecht: A Study from Eight Aspects. London: Methuen. ISBN 0413 34360 X.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Willett (1959, 36-37).
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The Plays of Bertolt Brecht

Baal • Drums in the Night • The Beggar • A Wedding • Driving Out a Devil • Lux in Tenebris • The Catch • In The Jungle of Cities • Edward II • Man Equals Man • Downfall of the Egotist Johann Fatzer • The Elephant Calf • Little Mahagonny • The Threepenny Opera • The Flight across the Ocean • The Baden-Baden Lesson on Consent • Happy End • The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny • Der Jasager / Der Neinsager • The Decision • Saint Joan of the Stockyards • The Exception and the Rule • The Mother • Kuhle Wampe • The Seven Deadly Sins • Round Heads and Pointed Heads • The Horatians and the Curiatians • Fear and Misery of the Third Reich • Señora Carrar's Rifles • Life of Galileo • How Much Is Your Iron? • Dansen • Mother Courage and Her Children • The Trial of Lucullus • Mr Puntila and his Man Matti • The Good Person of Szechwan • The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui • Hangmen Also Die! • The Visions of Simone Machard • The Duchess of Malfi • Schweyk in the Second World War • The Caucasian Chalk Circle • Antigone • The Days of the Commune • The Tutor • Die Verurteilung des Lukullus • Report from Herrnburg • Coriolanus • Joan of Arc • Turandot • Don Juan • Trumpets and Drums
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