OVERVIEW

• Playwright

  George Bernard (GB) Shaw 

• Setting

  15th century France

• Notes

  'Saint Joan' premiered in the Garrick Theatre, New York, on the 28 December 1923. The credits listed here relate to the play's London premiere.

  Widely translated across the world, the play has also been performed in a number of different Irish language versions, most famously starring the great Siobhán McKenna in the Taibhdhearc in 1950. See separate entry for details.

• Synopsis

  A tragedy based on the life and trial of the French peasant girl Jeanne d'Arc, burned at the stake for her role in the Hundred Years' War between France and England.

  In his preface to the play, Shaw wrote that "There are no villains in the piece. Crime, like disease, is not interesting: it is something to be done away with by general consent, and that is all [there is] about it. It is what men do at their best, with good intentions, and what normal men and women find that they must and will do in spite of their intentions, that really concern us."

• Play Type

  Plays General
  

  Number Of Acts

  Full-Length

Cast size

• Male

  22

• Female

  2

• Total

  24

Original Production

• Date of First Production

  26 March 1924

• Production Notes

  Produced by the New Theatre, London.

• Venue Notes

  Staged at the New Theatre, London.

Source Of Information