Maureen Selwood Stages Theater Work At Automata

Promotional image for ’29 Cross Examinations.’ | Image courtesy Maureen Selwood

This weekend (Nov. 20-22), Automata in Los Angeles’ Chinatown presents 29 Cross Examinations, a new theater work written and directed by filmmaker, installation artist and CalArts faculty Maureen Selwood.

29 Cross Examinations is a meditation on the French marytr and military hero Joan of Arc, who was tried and burned at the stake on the charge of cross-dressing—wearing military clothes—which was considered heretical in the 15th century. Through live performance, film clips and transcripts from the actual trial, Selwood brings about a new perspective on the mythologized folk hero.

From the press release:

29 Cross Examinations probes the connections between religious fervor and sexual identity and plays with the bizarre intimacy of the interrogation relationship. Through the actual text of the inquisition, we meet the real Joan – yet, as Joan herself says, “One does not allow the whole truth to be told.”

The multimedia work features performances by CalArts alum K. Bradford (Art, Writing MFA 14) and Nathan Nanhoff, digital projections by Jeremy Glaholt and animation by Selwood and Sunny Liang.