Clown Comedian Gardi Hutter Plays Joan of ArPpo

Gardi Hutter, perhaps the most famous clown in Switzerland, and the winner of Swiss Theatre Award in 2005, crosses the border of language and nations to bring joy with her comedy. She plays a sloppy laundry woman who looks up to Joan of Arc, but lacking worthy enemies, transforms her laundry room into a grotesque battlefield – with greetings from Don Quixote.

Hanna, a washwoman who dreams of great heroic deeds, tousled and airy-fairy, doesn’t have an easy life. Unmanageable clothespins, sneaky laundry lines, a washing basin with dizzying abysses and – most of all – a dirty and lazy pile of laundry can only be overcome with great cunning.

Hanna’s only gleam of hope is her book about the heroic deeds of Joan of Arc, which she devotedly reads during her breaks. Yes! She would trade her lonely and exhausting life in a second for adventures, glory and honour. Dream and reality immingle, lose their boundaries. The washing trough becomes a warship, the pile of laundry the battle horse… even pants “come flying down from the skies” and dub her knight: Long live Joan of ArPpo!

For lack of foreign conquerors, she declares war on her bitterest enemy without further ado: the huge pile of dirty laundry. Neither brawls nor drinking bouts, neither treachery nor cowardice can discourage the brave heroine, who – armed with pans and buckets – puts up a good fight. But little people have a hard time stepping out from someone’s shadow and Hanna heroically drowns in her washing basin.