Saint Joan of the Stockyards
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Saint Joan of the Stockyards is a play written by Bertolt Brecht in 1928 after the success of his play, The Threepenny Opera. Brecht's version of Saint Joan transforms Jeanne d'Arc (a peasant girl in 15th century France) into Joan Dark, a member of a Salvation Army-like band in 20th century Chicago. The play charts Joan's battle with Pierpont Mauler, the unxious owner of a meat-packing plant, as her world spins out of control. Like her predecessor, Dark is a doomed woman, a martyr and an innocent in a world of strike breakers, fat cats, and penniless workers. Like many of Brecht's signature plays it is laced with humor and song as part of its alienation effect.
[edit] Cast
- 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
