Joan, Again – subtlenuance

Overview

Joan, Again, the new play written and directed by Paul Gilchrist (Christina in the Cupboard, Rocket Man) for subtlenuance, centres around the peasant girl turned warrior-saint Joan of Arc. Or does it? Does it matter? Gilchrist's protagonist is either returning from the dead or masquerading as a French icon, and both writer and character realise that when it comes to identity theft, your probability of success can depend greatly on the improbability of the genuine article.

A modest crucifix, a crude table and bench, a sprinkling of hay and warm, rustic lighting establish a yard in a small French town. The visit of a Cardinal (Lynden Jones) on his way to Paris is complicated by the arrival of a young woman (Sylvia Keays) claiming to be Joan of Arc, back from the dead ten years after her execution. The ensuing debate about the veracity of the girl's story splits the house's inhabitants between those who take her at her word and those who demand that the mysterious visitor repent and tell the truth. Hiding in plain sight is the 'mouse', Therese (Kit Bennett), who has more to contribute on the subject of divinity than her colleagues suspect.

Helen Tonkin is unflappable as the prickly, no-nonsense atheist Isabelle and provides a nice counterweight to the self-satisfied malevolence of Jones' Cardinal. David Kirkham’s perpetually terrified Felix is also quite enjoyable, staying on stage just long enough to deliver a nervous disclaimer or apology before scampering out of sight again. Keay's Joan, though, is a hard one to read. In accordance with the script, she doesn’t give much away, surely a curious tactic to use against people so well-versed in her exploits as a charismatic military leader. The speed with which she allays the suspicions of the majority of the characters, regardless of their credulity, rings somewhat hollow.

In addition to the vaguely Crucible-esque vibe of the piece, with truth obscured by a rising tide of religious hyperbole, I found Joan, Again strongly reminiscent of a medieval morality play, in which the soul of the protagonist is contested by stereotypical forces of good and evil. On the one hand, Gilchrist’s script presents a witty, if overly long exploration of deception, identity and hypocrisy, with each character contributing a different angle on the subject. On the other, this approach makes for very little character or plot development, a factor exacerbated by the large cast and static staging of the piece. As the play continues, the characters lose dimension and humanity, becoming archetypes, facets of a debate rather than people.

Although flawed, Joan, Again is a nice jumble of history, myth and religion and an interesting study on the cult of personality in the mediaeval era.