ST.JOAN

Imagine that you’re one of the most powerful and ruthless men in the country – a colossus of politics and commerce, used to giving orders and getting your own way. One day a teenage girl full of teenage contradictions appears at your door – feisty yet deferential, streetwise yet naïve, tough yet vulnerable. She’s on a mission from God, she says, and God demands that you help her carry out His plan to vanquish the forces of occupation and oppression.

The girl’s clearly insane – insanely self-assured as well – but there’s something about her. Something you can’t quite put your finger on. And your workers – uncompromising hardmen for the most part – believe in her too. But as more and more people sit up and take notice of her, she catches the eye of other powerful men who see her only as a rebel. And rebels must be dealt with swiftly and decisively.

The astonishing life of Joan of Arc – leader, liberator, martyr, saint – is vividly told in Bernard Shaw’s compelling drama. A study of power, privilege, fear and religious zeal, this new and contemporary production of St. Joan is directed by Jimmy Fay and designed by the 2015 Linbury Prize winner Grace Smart.