St Joan – A Chronicle Play by Bernard Shaw

3rd – 6th December 1947 at St Francis Theatre, Letchworth

The 15th century French military figure Joan of Arc. Premiering in 1923, three years after her canonization by the Roman Catholic Church, the play dramatises what is known of her life based on the substantial records of her trial. Shaw studied the transcripts and decided that the concerned people acted in good faith according to their beliefs. He wrote in his preface to the play:

There are no villains in the piece. Crime, like disease, is not interesting: it is something to be done away with by general consent, and that is all [there is] about it. It is what men do at their best, with good intentions, and what normal men and women find that they must and will do in spite of their intentions, that really concern us.

Cast

Robert de baudricourt : Oscar Backhouse

Steward : Joe Platten

Joan : Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Dorris Barrett

Betrand de Poulengy : Gerald Gentle

Mgr. de la Tremouille : Ken Spinks

Archbishop of Rheims : Charles Bygrave

Court Page : Sybil Foster

Gilles de Rais (Blue Beard) : Patrick Wright

Captain le Hire : Leslie Robinson

The Dauphin (later Charles VII) : Derek Booth

Duchess de la Tremouille : Muriel Cobb

Dunois – Bastard of Orleans : Russell Rogers

Dunois’ Page : Michael Barrett

Earl of Warwick : Alec Barrett

Chaplin de Stogumber : Hugh Bidwell

Peter Cauchon – Bishop of Beauvais : Noel Ripley

The Inquisitor : Cecil Plowman

D’Estivet : Howard Cadwallader

De Courcelles : James Dainton

Brother Martin Ladvenu : John Christle

Executioner : Trevor Hales

English Soldier : Henry Wilkins

Gentleman : Patrick Wright

Courtiers and Assessors : Margaret Bidwell, Margaret Thompson, Joan Robinson, Ella Wright, Winnie Stubbs, Ellen Meredew, Mary Gentle, Edward Cobb, Leslie Robinson, Ken Spinks , Bernard Chatfield, Joe Platten, Gerald Gentle Jolyon Booth, Oscar Backhouse, Patrick Wright, Derek Booth, Russell Rogers, Charles Bygrave, Wyndham Deere, Arthur Ginnis

Crew

Producer : Ken Spinks

Stage Manager : Edward Cobb

Electricians : Clifford Richmond

Mistress of the Robes : Patrica Gowman

Poster Design : Noel Ripley