Saint Joan
at Rocket @ St. John's Hall (Venue 126), Edinburgh

James Panton

A profound and witty work, Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan explores the themes of faith and truth, nationhood and social progress, through the story of Joan of Arc in the fifteenth century.

The cast of students from the Howard Westlake School have tackled this complex work with impressive originality. Guided by her 'inner voices', country maid Joan dares to proclaim that she is in direct communion with God, usurping the power and authority of the Church. And in doing His work, she aims to forge a unified French nation under Charles VII, bypassing the authority of a disaggregated feudal class in the historical prelude to the bourgeois struggle for nationhood and absolute monarchy.

Moments of fumbled dialogue and short bursts of acting that misses the subtlety to which it aspires reminds us of the relative inexperience and immaturity of the group. But these are momentary exceptions. The lead, Bridget Moloney, is an excellent Joan, exploiting the humor of a bumpkin upstart with aspirations to change the world, and taking us on a moving journey from a rising hero of the war towards inevitable excommunication and execution. The interpretation is also refreshing. An en-suite chamber orchestra sits and performs from the left of the stage.

In a risky move, fem-rock and stylised dance has also been thrown in. Perhaps surprisingly, it works very well. Though this is not a faultlessly performed piece of drama, there is an underlying aspiration in both performance and production, and an attempt to present a difficult and challenging piece of theatre in an original way, which come together to exemplify what is best about the Fringe.