Performance Place Gerald Freedman Theatre | Director: Gerald Freedman | Scenic Designer: Jessica Moretti | UNC School of the Arts
SAINT JOAN by: George Bernard Shaw
In Shaws’ version of Saint Joan it is important to view Joan of Arc not as a Saint but as a human being. A young girl, acting on her faith, challenged the strength of the Catholic Church and the European feudal structure.
The development of new ideas and the challenging of old can change not only a nation’s beliefs and viewpoints but can also alter a way of life. Politicians, capitalists, and clergy are at times forced to face a challenge in which they struggle to keep their world from crumbling around them.
The clash between old values and new, the conflict of rationality and balance against wealth and power will always be with us as a part of society. The misuse of morality and religion as political weapons is not a foreign idea and tends to happen when there are ‘rebels’ with different ideas that suggestchange.
With similar political and religious concepts still in existence today, it is safe to say that a Joan-like character might be treated in the same way.
She represents the rebel, the non-conformist who pushes the boundaries of her society and the world she is trying to change.
The development of new ideas and the challenging of old can change not only a nation’s beliefs and viewpoints but can also alter a way of life. Politicians, capitalists, and clergy are at times forced to face a challenge in which they struggle to keep their world from crumbling around them.
The clash between old values and new, the conflict of rationality and balance against wealth and power will always be with us as a part of society. The misuse of morality and religion as political weapons is not a foreign idea and tends to happen when there are ‘rebels’ with different ideas that suggestchange.
With similar political and religious concepts still in existence today, it is safe to say that a Joan-like character might be treated in the same way.
She represents the rebel, the non-conformist who pushes the boundaries of her society and the world she is trying to change.
Photos: Courtesy of UNCSA