Vision burns in the darkness
By Jesús Ibarra, Oct 13, 2006

Joan of Arc, Vision Through the Fire Friday & Saturday, October 13 & 14, 8pm Capilla de Santa María del Obraje, Calle Presa del Obraje, 100 pesos

In the cool of the night with a backdrop of breeze, the rustle of the leaves and the chirping of crickets, the shadow of actress Arleta Jeziorska plays on the stone façade of the small chapel at El Obraje. For the past few weekends, the story of the Maid of Orleans, Joan of Arc, has unfolded here under the stars. During the one-hour production Joan of Arc, Vision Through the Fire, written and directed by John Morrow, Arleta speaks as though with Joan’s own voice and watches the world through the martyr’s eyes. She is, at the same time, an actress who portrays Joan and tells her story and Joan herself, passing from the sensitive young farm girl who one day sees angels and hears mystical voices to the brave soldier who leads an army, and finally to the fragile and frightened prisoner of the British soldiers, condemned to be burned alive. 

In an interview with Atención reporter Jesús Ibarra, Arleta tells of her experience of portraying Joan of Arc.

Jesús Ibarra: Arleta, where are you from?

Arleta Jeziorska: I was born in Poland, 36 years ago, but I have lived in Mexico for 20 years. I came to live in San Miguel a year and a half ago, because I wanted to get away from the big city. I currently live on a small farm, trying to live in contact with nature and do permaculture projects.

JI: Did you study acting in Poland or in Mexico?

AJ: In Mexico. I always wanted to be an actress. As circumstances moved my family from Poland, I studied in Mexico City at the Núcleo de Estudios Teatrales NET (Nucleus of Theater Studies) and at Televisa. I also studied theater direction with Ludwig Margules.

JI: How did you come in contact with John Morrow and his play Joan of Arc, Vision Through the Fire?

AJ: One day, John came to see me about a permaculture project. He did not know I was an actress, and I did not know he was a director. Later, when he knew, he told me that I was the type of actress he needed for the play he was preparing in Spanish since I was a foreigner and I spoke perfect Spanish. I read the play, and I loved it.

JI: So, you are performing the play in Spanish?

AJ: Yes. John originally wrote it in English. He used documents housed in a huge library in Norway, original documents brought from the Library of Paris, and incorporated original quotes from Joan and witnesses at her trial. The play is not just about Joan, but about an actress who portrays Joan of Arc. John has already presented it in English for the National Theater of Norway, with the Norwegian actress Juni Dahr, and in different theater festivals all over Europe. The translation into Spanish was done by Claudia Torres, a professional Mexican translator. 

JI: Have you any plans to perform it in English?

AJ: Yes. In fact I am currently learning the play in English. 

JI: Is it a monologue?

AJ: Yes, and it is performed in the open air. The only performer who is with me during the play is the musician Peter Ross, who plays a special kind of flute called a shakuhachi. Even the scenery is quite simple: a blanket, where I stand, two copper basins filled with candles, two lamps, and a chair. The texture of the blanket and the texture of the stone wall of the chapel cause a great sensibility in the performer and in the spectator. There is also a tree, and when the wind blows, it increases that sensibility. 

JI: How did you prepare yourself for portraying Joan?

 

AJ: I like to talk about that. In the beginning, after reading the play, although I had loved it, I thought that I would not do it, because it had deeply touched my feelings.

But then I told myself, “Well, Arleta, why don’t you want to do it? Are you afraid?” It was very hard. The play would require me to go deep into my feelings, to the most existential issue for me, faith, to ask myself very personal questions about who I am.  It was a real challenge—it was art. If art does not make you question yourself and find new answers to those questions, then it is not art; and it was the opportunity to do art. So I decided to accept. 

I began reading books about Joan, but what was really important is the magic that has accompanied us during the rehearsals and the performance. I could not hear Joan’s voices and see angels, but instead I could hear and feel nature itself. During a rehearsal, a humming bird flew around me; a little red bird stopped on a branch of a nearby tree. I could hear the sound of the insects and the blowing of the wind; I could feel the light of the sun on my face; I saw a butterfly fluttering around, and I compared its fragility with Joan’s. Nature was for me what the voices were for Joan. During one performance, as I shouted “Orleans has fallen! Victory is ours!” the fireworks of San Miguel’s fiesta thundered.

JI: How was John Morrow’s direction?

AJ: It was impressive because he directed it in English, so he did not direct what I was saying, but only my physical and facial expressions. 

JI: Has the weather affected the performances?

AJ: Sometimes. Once we cancelled because of the rain. On another occasion, it began to rain in the middle of the performance. I continued acting, feeling the rain on my face, and with only one movement of my hand, I invited the spectators to go into the chapel. They went inside and sat down, waiting for the performance to continue. 

JI: How long are you continuing with the performances?

AJ: As long as people continue attending.

JI: Do you have plans to present the play in another place?

AJ: Here in San Miguel we have been invited by Teatro Santa Ana and by John Wharton, who is about to open a small new space for theater in Colonia San Rafael. We also have been invited to present it in Querétaro, San Luis Potosí and Mexico City. We want to present it wherever we are invited to do it, even to collect some funds for performances.

 

Arletta Jerzioska and John Morrow

John Morrow has been involved for many years in experimental and avant-garde theater in New York as an actor, director and author. He has presented his work at La Mama, Etc, Theater Genesis, The Space of Innovative Development and the Museum of Modern Art.

Arletta Jerzioska has been an actress in theater and films and on TV for 15 years. Her most outstanding work in theater has been in The Lover by Harold Pinter and Pop Corn by Ben Elton. She was in the film Miroslava, directed by Alejandro Pelayo, and on TV she was in the soap opera “The Heiress” for TV Azteca.