A brand-new season for AUB Productions kick-started at Arts University Bournemouth (AUB)’s Studio Theatre with I, Joan.
The play, written by Charlie Josephine, follows Joan of Arc as they rebel against the world’s expectations and question the gender binary, finding their power within. All the while tackling themes including gender dysphoria, sexism, and sexual violence.
“The script alone […] is impeccable,” says BA (Hons) Acting student Will Rosander, who plays Charles in the production. “It’s funny, intelligent, political and so important and relevant in today’s world.
“The director, Elinor Lower, made the rehearsal period fun and interesting for all of us. They focused a lot on getting the ensemble together with different exercises and a lot of movement.”
Even with an impeccable script and interesting direction, surely portraying a historical figure such as Joan of Arc must present challenges.
“Tackling such a historical figure such as Joan was tricky, especially in Josephine’s queer reimagining of them,” explains BA (Hons) Acting’s Lou Edwards. “There is so much information to be found about them that it can become overwhelming to decide which bits I wanted for my character and which bits I didn't.
“For example, the fact they were a farmer from Domremy meant that they were lower class, which fuelled my own performance coming from a working class background: I played around with implementing my Black Country accent for them, to see if it separated them from the other, higher class characters, and I think it worked really nicely.
“Playing them was an absolute joy; their ferocity, their intensity, even their cruelty was truly beautiful, because they were only 17, and weren't we all a bit messy at that age? Once I started focusing on that, then they came to life; became human and here.”
One of the more unique aspects of this production of I, Joan was its predominantly queer cast, as Will explains:
“It was such a privilege to be in a creative space, working on a queer play where the people in the room (queer or not) were fighting for the same goal in creating this important piece of art about queerness, gender identity, equality and liberation.
“Working on I, Joan has been an amazing experience in many aspects. Most of us were saying throughout the process, and after, that we never wanted this experience to end, which is a very privileged position to be in.”
I, Joan was the first in AUB Productions’ 2024/25 season, running from 7–9 November 2024 at the Studio Theatre, AUB Campus.
AUB Productions is a collaboration between industry professionals and students from AUB’s BA (Hons) Acting, BA (Hons) Costume, BA (Hons) Design for Costume and Performance, and BA (Hons) Make-up for Media and Performance courses.
Students also toured local schools with their production of Romeo and Juliet, later playing at the Palace Court Theatre on 16 November. They’ll round 2024 off with Emilia! at the Studio Theatre from 5 December.