by Sarah Rodgers

I think it is safe to say that it is every director's dream to one day direct George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan. I have been pinching myself ever since Jeremy brought me onto this exciting project. I have always been a huge fan of Shaw and grew up reading many of his correspondences, essays, and reviews.

Saint Joan is considered by many to be Shaw's greatest play. It had successful first runs in New York in 1923 and in London in 1924, running for 214 and 244 performances respectively. An early production in Paris was also a great success even though Shaw had previously not been very popular in France.

Saint Joan is full of surprises. The first is that a non-religious writer like Shaw should even write on a topic like this: the martyrdom of a Christian Saint.

And critics in France, before the French version opened, were similarly nervous about how the irreverent Irishman would treat their national heroine. Shaw claims in the preface to the published edition of the play that it does not depart from historical fact though he admits that in the case of Cauchon, the Inquisitor, and Warwick: "the things I represent these three exponents of the drama as saying are the things they actually would have said if they had known what they were doing."

As we have dug into this beautiful piece many themes seem to erupt. This play is a vehicle for dealing in dramatic terms with such matters as nationalism, differences between Protestantism and Catholicism, heroism, the nature of sainthood, issues related to gender and evolution.

I remember sitting in the auditions and hearing our very own Joan speak the text for the first time: the simplicity, the joy, and the faith of the character brought tears to my eyes. Still today sitting in rehearsal and witnessing the wisdom and bravery of this remarkable young woman is a humbling and moving experience.

We present this story to you with simplicity and clarity. The time that I have spent in Shaw's world with my wonderful assistant director Robin Bancroft-Wilson and my remarkable cast has been a thrilling and joyful time. I invite you into our world. And in Joan's words:

"Advance boldly and fear nothing".

Biography

Sarah is an actor and a director; she graduated in 2003 with her MFA in directing from UBC. Since graduating Sarah has directed Cat and Mouse (Sheep) for Sea Theatre at Presentation House, for which she received a Jessie Richardson Award for Outstanding Direction. Some other highlights include: Under Milk Wood at UBC; The Elephant Man and Driving Miss Daisy, both for Pacific Theatre; My Fair Lady for The Gateway Theatre; Old Goriot with James Fagan Tait for UBC. Sarah has just finished directing a new Canadian play: Island of Bliss for Western Canada Theatre. She had a wonderful time in Chemainus last year directing A Christmas in Wales, and is just over the moon to be back for Saint Joan.