De Meiden - Annotation
This post discusses the print show program of "De Meiden"
“De Meiden Program (English)” Festival d’Avignon, Avignon, 2017. Print.
The program for Katie Mitchell’s production of De Meiden at the Festival d’Avignon follows the same template as all the festival programs; a summary of the show, director and author bios, and an interview with the director. On the back page of the program is a listing of related programming (for Mitchell’s other shows Five Truths and Nave of Images) as well as tour dates for the show after the festival ends and a block of text acknowledging the work of “over 1750 people, artistic, technicians, and organizational staff” involved in the 71st season of the festival. Examined as a whole, the program is demonstrative of the identity of the festival. From the cohesion of every show’s program to the focus on the artists and support team, and the advertising of the other related festival events, the program clearly belongs to a festival that opperates as a cohesive whole rather than merely a meeting place of unrelated and unconnected works and artists. The specifics of the program are more telling of the show itself. The show summary and interview both reveal Mitchell’s vision for De Meiden; an exploration of the exploitation of working class, and patriarchal domination. This vision manifests itself in the show as a transformation of the postwar black maids to modern day Polish immigrants, and of the madame into a man dressed in woman’s clothes. Both of these decisions could be considered controversial - the change of the maids’ nationality takes away opportunities from actors of colour, and the vision for Madame paints the character as a man, which would be inaccurate if the character is trans — a distinction that the production never clarifies. By examining the program, readers can asses these issues with an understanding of the director’s intention. Namely, Mitchell wanted to highlight current worries of underpaid and exploited immigrants, especially in the light of modern political events (“massive migrations, Brexit, Donal Trump’s rise to power” (2)) and explained the casting of a man in the role of Madame as “the feminist in me refused to tell the story of a woman oppressing other women” (3). Whether or not these explanations prove justify the actions is dependent on the spectator, however the program provides context and founding for the production as a whole; the conditions of production can be clarified by hearing the director speak to her work, and thus the work can be more accurately assessed.
