SAINT JOAN (2018) Previews

Wow, what a season for Shaw and his fair ladies.

Bwayfan292 said: "Really looking foward to this one, hopefully this is the show that lands her a tony."

She's not winning a Tony this year.

TotallyEffed said: "Bwayfan292 said: "Really looking foward to this one, hopefully this is the show that lands her a tony."

She's not winning a Tony this year."

I know, just wishfull thinking

Anyone there tonight?

I was at the first preview tonight and did not care for this at all. I thought Daniel Sullivan’s of the Little Foxes last season was so wonderful, but I don’t think he connected nearly as well with the material here. It felt like each of the six scenes (plus epilogue; no prologue) was directed by a different person. Scene 2 at the Royal Court was so awkward and buffoonish. Parts of it almost verged on slapstick; it was like an SNL skit of an American theater group trying to put on a BBC costume drama. Scene 6 (The Inquisition) was played fairly straight-forwardly, but the Epilogue swung back to almost multi-cam sitcom territory.

Much fault also needs to lie with the play itself, which is often too talky for its own good. Shaw seems much less interested in telling Joan’s story than wanting to expose hypocrisy and corruption in the church and politics, which is all well and good, but Joan often doesn’t even feel like the main character. Sure, she’s talked about an awful lot, but the play is rarely told from her perspective, but rather from that of the church.

Because of all this I’m afraid the actors were often a little at sea, or at the very least weren’t performing in the same play. Walter Bobbie and Patrick Page came across well in Scene 6, but there’s just so much chatter that works against them. I didn’t care for Rashad’s performance in act one, but I thought she was much better in act two.

I thought often of 1776 while watching Saint Joan. Both are long, drawn out history plays that everyone in the audience already knows the ending to, but 1776 remains exciting and thrilling despite this fact. Will that declaration actually get signed?! Here it was like, get on with it! Never before have I so rooted for an innocent to be burned at the stake. The inquistion just goes on and on forever without much tension. It was like Shaw had to hit that three hour mark or he thought his audiences wouldn’t get their money’s worth.

My advice would be, if you’re a big fan of the play or Rashad, to wait until after opening to get tickets so Sullivan can iron out the tone and the performances can gel together.

WhizzerMarvin said: "

Much fault also needs to lie with the play itself, which is often too talky for its own good. Shaw seems much less interested in telling Joan’s story than wanting to expose hypocrisy and corruption in the church and politics, which is all well and good, but Joan often doesn’t even feel like the main character. Sure, she’s talked about an awful lot, but the play is rarely told from her perspective, but rather from that of the church.

Did it ever cross you mind that this was Shaw's choice? Shakespeare called his play Julius Caesar, but it isn't about him. In Henry IV, Part Two, the title character and Prince Hal have few scenes!

A Director said: "WhizzerMarvin said: "

Much fault also needs to lie with the play itself, which is often too talky for its own good. Shaw seems much less interested in telling Joan’s story than wanting to expose hypocrisy and corruption in the church and politics, which is all well and good, but Joan often doesn’t even feel like the main character. Sure, she’s talked about an awful lot, but the play is rarely told from her perspective, but rather from that of the church.

Did it ever cross you mind that this was Shaw's choice? Shakespeare called his play Julius Caesar, but it isn't about him. In Henry IV, Part Two, the title character and Prince Hal have few scenes!"

Ha, of course it was Shaw’s choice. I’m just saying I didn’t like it! Or is this play, by virtue of having the name Shaw attached, rendered so infallible that we dare not criticize it?

Since when has Henry IV ever been presented as a star vehicle for the actor playing Henry? Everyone knows the real star of the play is Falstaff. Likewise, no producer has ever tried to sell a ticket to Gypsy by putting the actress playing Louise over the title.