There’s a long tradition of returning to Joan of Arc and asking new questions of a story we think we already understand. But “I, Joan” doesn’t just revisit Joan it destabilises them. First staged at Shakespeare’s Globe in 2022, Charlie Josephine’s play reframes the figure at its centre through a non-binary lens, not as a historical correction, but as an act of possibility.
Now, that same question, “What if Joan was trans, or non-binary?” arrives in Reykjavík with Ég, Jóhanna, a new Icelandic production that leans fully into the tension between body, belief, and identity. The language itself signals that shift: Joan is referred to using the pronoun hán, a relatively recent Icelandic addition that sits outside the gender binary, and one that reshapes how the character is seen, spoken about, and ultimately understood.
For actor Elísabet Skagfjörð (they/them) who goes by Beta, and director Aron Martin Ásgerðarson (he/him), this isn’t about rewriting history so much as interrogating it. Their Ég, Jóhanna stages two parallel wars: one on the battlefield, and one within the self; a collision between imposed identity and lived truth, played out through language, movement, and a growing sense of urgency that feels uncomfortably contemporary.
Ahead of the premiere on April 10 at Tjarnarbíó, GayIceland spoke with Beta and Aron Martin about transness as something divine, the politics of pronouns, and why Joan’s story still burns.
GayIceland: “I, Joan reimagines Joan of Arc through a non-binary lens. What drew you to that reinterpretation, and what does it unlock that more traditional portrayals don’t?”
Beta: “It is a play from a non-binary playwright writing specifically about trans experience for a non-binary actor which is something I hadn’t seen anywhere in Iceland. This interpretation is an exploration of gender and transness as something divine. It begs the question what if Joan was trans? They were burnt at the stake for refusing to stop wearing men’s clothes so I feel it is a very valid question to explore. The play also explores this gender journey very physically. The battles and Joan’s connection to their divine self, their God, is told through movement and dance.”
GayIceland: “The description of the show frames gender as a kind of constant war. How central is that idea in the way the story unfolds on stage?”
Beta: “I would say that’s the heart of the story. Joan is fighting two parallel wars. One is with the English and one is with patriarchy. Constant fighting can cause a person to lose perspective and ultimately leads you to lose sight of what you started fighting for.”
Aron Martin: “Ego also plays a big part in it as well. What happens when you have been on a winning streak and crash into an immovable object and you start acting irrational. The crash is devastating and painful but that is often what brings you back to your purpose. I really feel that’s the core of Joan’s story, and the story of so many activists throughout history.”
It’s an explosion. It’s loud, funny, painful and a celebration of queerness. It’s gonna be a ball.
GayIceland: “How does the piece explore the tension between assigned identity and lived identity?”
Aron Martin: “Joan knows themself to be a holy warrior that is destined to drive the English out of France but the world refuses to recognize that, all because of the body they are born into. So throughout the story they are constantly fighting to be seen and heard for what they are instead of what they are perceived as.”
Beta: “And in the end patriarchy proves mightier than even god herself. They are killed for living freely instead of what the world of men wants them to be.”
Aron Martin: “So the fight for liberation and identity mirrors beautifully through the story and is a very prominent theme.”
GayIceland: “This might be something that many readers aren’t aware of but there are some who feel that Joan’s rejection of gender norms; including clothing, roles, and identity could be seen as opening the door to trans or non-binary interpretations. How does your production engage with or respond to those perspectives?”
Aron Martin: “Joan was sentenced to death for heresy and repented but was ultimately executed for refusing to stop wearing men’s clothes. They cut their hair to appear more masculine or less feminine.”
Beta: “We also want to note that this play is not a historical revision nor is it saying that women cannot be warriors, it is simply exploring the question what if Joan was trans or non-binary in a world where gender was very binary.”
GayIceland: “For those who don’t speak Icelandic, they might not realise that the use of the non-binary pronoun hán in the marketing material for this show is very deliberate. How does language shape the audience’s understanding of Joan in this version?”
Aron Martin: “It’s very interesting to explore the word ‘hán’ in this play because it is translated from English to Icelandic.”
Beta: “In English they simply use the word ‘they’ but in our version we decided to use the pronoun ‘hán’ because I think it is a very beautiful word and it just felt right.”
Aron Martin: “Therefore the word is completely new in the world of the play in Icelandic.
It’s also different how Joan speaks about themself in English and in Icelandic and we have to keep track of when Joan stops speaking about themself as a woman in Icelandic and starts to talk about themself as a non-binary person or ‘kvár’ whereas in English nothing changes in their text apart from the words she/her.”
I also feel like the context of this play is so different from when it premiered in London in 2022. Some moments in the text feel especially painful to say because of the state of the world now.
GayIceland: “The play is described as a “personal rebellion against the gender binary”, how do you balance Joan’s historical context with this contemporary framing?”
Aron Martin: “The author, Charlie Josephine, does this very beautifully in the text. Especially towards the end of the play, Joan’s speeches where they talk to the audience get more and more plugged into the world we live in today. They speak for example about women being angry about pronouns and bathrooms. This is all deliberately and beautifully done by Charlie who is also non-binary.”
Beta: “I also feel like the context of this play is so different from when it premiered in London in 2022. Some moments in the text feel especially painful to say because of the state of the world now.”
GayIceland: “For someone discovering the show for the first time, what kind of experience can they expect from Ég, Jóhanna?”
Beta: “It’s an explosion. It’s loud, funny, painful and a celebration of queerness. It’s gonna be a ball.” *wink wink*
Ég Johanna will premiere at Tjarnarbíó on April 10. Tickets are available here.