La voluntad de creer

In the transcript of the trial of Joan of Arc, when asked how she knew that the voice she heard was that of Saint Michael, she replies:

“−Because he had the voice of an angel.

−How do you know it was the voice of an angel?

−Because I had the will to believe it.”

Ever since I read this last phrase, it has stuck with me as a possible definition of theatre and also as an obsession. What relationship is there between will and faith? What makes something plausible? What role does will play in suggestion?

After devoting a lot of time listening to songs for the creation of our last play, we’re now going to turn our attention to will. So, we’re going to base our work on Dreyer’s Ordet, which has one of the most beautiful and most daringly plausible final scenes I have ever seen.

In our performance, the youngest brother in a Basque family claims he is Jesus of Nazareth His sisters reckon he’s gone mad from reading too much Kierkegaard. As in Ordet, there will be death and resurrection. And above all, a desire to play with the spectator’s perception in such a way that the actual performance itself is a test of their faith.

Pablo Messiez