Waterboarding as a theatrical spectacle, Jeanne Hamilton, October 2012

A contemporary Joan d’Arc struggles and lashes out at her surroundings, demanding justice amid harassment and torture aimed at revealing her gender and her purpose. Using post/modern symbols such as the mundane act of eating a hamburger and the torture method of waterboarding, Jehanne undergoes inner and outer “trial”.
The second element of the performance articulates the connection between gender and psychological testing / diagnosis. Inspired by an American personality test used by the US government to field candidates for positions involving top secret information (and since its development in the 50’s, used worldwide), a voice recites the test questions as the performer on stage reacts and interacts physically with the voice (her own?)