Santa Joana dos Matadouros

All the weak and unprotected turn to the character of Joan Dark, as written by Brecht. Joan follows her missionary calling as a spokesperson for the people and a mediator in the conflicts between workers and the powers that control the meat industry. Joan is manipulated by the class she represents, but also by the powers that offer her small victories in order to exploit her. Joan becomes a pressure valve for the people and an instrument through which those in power attempt to contain the fury of the masses. Joan could be that politically engaged artist who delivers passionate speeches in defence of all the oppressed people of the world, feeding on their stories and tragedies while unconsciously contributing to the romanticisation of their suffering.

Written by Bertolt Brecht between 1929 and 1931, and first staged only in 1959, Saint Joan of the Stockyards opens this November at Teatro Carlos Alberto, directed by Bruno Martins, artistic director of Teatro da Didascália. The play explores the tension between faith and politics, exposing the mechanisms through which power absorbs and neutralises popular struggle.

The story takes place in Chicago shortly after the 1929 stock market crash. But it could unfold at any time and in any place. It is the endlessly unfinished story of the weak and unprotected confronting the arbitrary power of owners, bosses and speculators. Between these opposing forces, Bertolt Brecht creates a character named Joan Dark — inspired by Joan of Arc — who, driven by religious faith, joins the workers in their struggle against unemployment and poverty, only to be swiftly co-opted by those in power and turned to their own advantage.