Culture in the Cinema: Saint Joan

Since 2009, National Theatre Live has brought acclaimed British theatre to international audiences through recorded performances screened in cinemas across the globe. Regal Cinemas Camana Bay recently showed Josie Rourke’s 2016 production of Saint Joan as the latest offering of Culture in the Cinema, a monthly programming of largely NT Live plays that has been a refreshing addition to Cayman’s still emerging stage scene.

You may recall Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan (1923) from your high school Drama syllabi - that’s where I first became acquainted with it – it’s the kind of modern classic with enough enduring socio-political relevancy that it consistently makes it onto curriculum. If you’re not familiar with the play, the historical figure of Jeanne d’Arc (Joan of Arc – France, mid-1400s) may ring some bells – a young, working class woman who was at once a prophet, soldier and politician. History and Shaw describe her with an incomparable magnetism – conviction so vehement she commanded attention - “There is something about the girl.” She’s well cast in the effervescent Gemma Arterton.

Rourke’s production is set in the contemporary corporate world of boardrooms and high-stakes meetings. In an interview during the interval, Rourke expresses her feeling that the production should speak to our times - “It’s got to be about now” she says, calling Joan and anti-establishment figure and making reference to the political upheavals of 2016 that were taking place during the rehearsal period – namely Brexit and the American election. Naturally, recent global discussions on feminism also come to mind.

Metaphorically, Rourke illustrates Joan’s revolutionary impact with a constantly rotating stage – Joan sets things in motion. The effect of this directorial choice translates less successfully on screen as I imagine it would at the Donmar Warehouse where the production was staged – a small, intimate venue which allows theatre-goers more of a sense of being part of the action. In a play that certainly considers the concept of perspective, at the very least it’s interesting to allow the audience multiple views of any given scene.

Further design devices – news broadcasts and various forms of modern technology – drive home the play’s applicability to the current age. There’s no real need for this - it’s effective but perhaps a touch superfluous.  

Joan’s betrayal and final trial are, of course, particularly affecting scenes. Arterton expertly embodies the complexity of Joan here – her nationalism, passion, faith and arrogance. Richard Cant’s De Stogumber, by turns infuriating and heartbreaking, was also a stand out performance for me. While it’s a treat to see details of the actors’ expressions in close-up that theatre can so often deny you, I regret losing out on the palpable energy that only the stage offers – I imagine these scenes filled the room immensely.   

Culture in the Cinema continues on 23rd September with Yerma (Simone Stone after Frederico García Lorca) starring Billie Piper. More information here.