Jodie McNee is an actress from Liverpool, known for starring in The Physician (2013), Hamlet (2015) and Little Blue Boy (2017), now starring in Faustus: That Damned Woman, at the Birmingham Rep Theatre until the 7th March. She tells Redbrick Culture about the role and its significance in a contemporary re-telling.

How would you best describe the character of Johanna Faustus?

Johanna Faustus is a complex person; she is very much driven by the injustice her mother suffered. She has a calling to save her mother, yet she is no angel. Faustus is uncompromising, impatient, stubborn, angry and vengeful but she needs to be in order to survive and thrive. For her there is no opportunity no choice no way out leads her to the devil.

What attributes of the Faustus story do you think lend it to a contemporary retelling? Do you see any parallels between the story and any contemporary issues at the moment?

Chris has created a whole new story from the original, she has used the bare bones of the myth and given a nod to the Marlowe and Geothe but it’s very different. 

I guess one of the main contemporary issues in the play is living in a world that is made by men for men and how women’s contribution to the world is either stamped out or only just tolerated. 

Johanna Faustus is the most intelligent person on the planet, but in 1665 her talents are a danger to her, her knowledge and innate talent for healing could lead to being hung for witchcraft, as did her mother’s. She has to bend the rules and get around the structures that oppress her. 

There is a reason Chris Bush has written a female central figure who talks for nearly two hours. Johanna Faustus has much to say about the world and her impatience for change is palpable.

How much preparation is involved for a role such as this? Is there anything in particular that you did to prepare yourself for the role?

I always prepare before I start work, it’s normally a couple of months of reading and building the characters back story, reading the play over and over, doing everything I can to gain understanding of the person I’m playing.

The Faustus tale seems a complicated story to imbue with feminist sentiments, was this something you found to be a challenge? If so, how did you overcome this or how did the director negotiate it?

The play is about a woman who wants to explore her greatness, who wants power and freedom. It was thrilling to get the opportunity to delve into massive ideas and her epic journey. Our director Caroline Byrne was brilliant at facing those challenges head on, she pushed me to go further. The whole cast, crew and creative team have put everything into this. I’m very proud of what we have achieved as a collective.

How did you find portraying such a strong female lead? Did you draw inspiration for this from any particular sources?

I’d say every character I’ve ever played has been strong. Women are strong. 

This particular woman is given an opportunity to use her strength and power and that is the extraordinary thing. 

All the women in my family are my inspiration for this role.

What do you feel the play has to say about structural misogyny given that the original story was very male centric?

Our Faustus is a woman at the very bottom of society, no opportunity or way out, the original myth is about a man who is wealthy and has everything he could ever want but has a thirst for more. Our female Faust has to fight against patriarchal structures. 

We do have a male character in the play who represents the original Doctor Faust, who wants to use the devil to gain power and ultimately to satiate his greed. 

But our Faust is trying to go further with her desire for knowledge, she wants to eradicate the need for god and fear of the devil, she wants humanity to be free of the judgement and damnation her mother was subjected to. Her fight with the devil is about disempowering him, and giving that power not only to herself but to all humanity.

How did this role compare to others you have had in the past?

The difference with this role is I’m playing a woman who is given a pathway to greatness. She isn’t serving someone else’s narrative; it is her story. 

Chris Bush has written a woman who is trying to expand her mind and put her greatness to use.

What do you feel the plays overarching message is regarding greatness and legacy? Do you feel there is a moral message to be gleaned from it?

I think the play is about having hope over despair, Faustus transforms her pain and trauma into something useful. She uses her power for the betterment of humanity. She fails on many levels, even so she keeps going.