Theatre review: The Joan of Arc story, starring her mother
Credit to Author: Jerry Wasserman| Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2019 02:23:47 +0000
Mother of the Maid
When: To Oct. 5
Where: Pacific Theatre
Tickets & Info: $20-$36.50 at pacifictheatre.org
Even after 500 years, Joan of Arc continues to fascinate. The peasant girl who claimed to be chosen by God, who led a French army against the English then was burned at the stake for heresy shows up everywhere from operas to video games. Try Googling “cultural depictions of Joan of Arc.”
Theatrically, Shakespeare demonized her in Henry VI, Part One, while Shaw humanized her in Saint Joan. American playwright Jane Anderson re-examines Joan’s story from a domestic angle in Mother of the Maid, getting its Canadian premiere at Pacific Theatre.
Kaitlin Williams’ low-key staging on Carolyn Rapanos’ cleverly versatile set emphasizes the folksiness of Anderson’s characters. Anita Wittenberg plays Joan’s mother, Isabelle Arc, as a very grounded, ordinary woman facing extraordinary circumstances. She avoids “acting with a capital A,” as the New York Times’ Ben Brantley describes Glenn Close’s showy off-Broadway performance in what he calls a “four-handkerchief” play.
One hanky is probably enough to get you through this amusing, solidly acted, unsentimental production of a script with few revelations, whose characters speak in colloquialisms more 21st century than 15th.
Isabelle and stubborn teenage Joan (Shona Struthers) have a typical mother-daughter relationship, loving and bickering, until Isabelle asks what Joan was doing lying on the grass. “You think I’m diddling myself? I’m having holy visions, Ma!” “Don’t get snappy,” Isabelle replies.
When Joan asserts that Saint Catherine has instructed her to dress like a man, take up the sword and drive the English out of France, Isabelle and Joan’s stern, cynical father Pierre (Ian Butcher) beat her and lock her in the barn with the sheep.
But persuaded by the local priest (Richard Newman), they eventually let her go, accompanied by older brother Jacques (very funny Raes Calvert), to offer her services to the Dauphin. Impressed by the strength of her conviction and the people’s belief that she is the Maid of prophesy, he appoints her to lead his army.
Isabelle walks 300 miles to the castle to see Joan in the first of two lengthy scenes with a Lady of the Court (AJ Simmons) that provide a dual maternal perspective but fail to give much more depth to the plot or characters. Isabelle revisits the court after Joan is captured by the English and accused of heresy. “She’s a celebrity, Ma, she’s gonna be fine,” Jacques assures her. But alas, no.
Shona Struthers and Anita Wittenberg (right) star in Mother of the Maid, which runs until Oct. 5 at the Pacfic Theatre. Photo: Chelsey Stuyt Photography.
The most powerful scenes follow. Chained in a cell, abandoned by her voices and terrified of her impending execution, Joan still refuses to recant. Isabelle consoles her, then grieves her. Pierre witnesses his daughter’s terrible death. In a fascinating postscript Isabelle recounts her travels to Rome to convince the Pope that her daughter was no heretic. And she uncharacteristically rages against God.
Pacific Theatre’s interest in faith-based drama makes this a fine vehicle for their season-opener, adding a few more human faces, in a production without histrionics, to an iconic cultural tale.