SAINT JOAN (2018) Previews- Page 3

[After Eight]

Posted: 4/22/18 at 3:46pm

Synecdoche2 wrote: "The fact that people consider this play too talky does not bode well for the future of audiences’ attention span."

It doesn't bode well for the future, period. Nor does it reflect well on the present, either. But when you have people proclaiming on a public forum that some overblown soap opera is superior to every play Shakespeare (and anyone else) ever wrote, really, what can you expect?

It's now clear that one of the (many) good things about the good old days is that technology didn't allow one to broadcast arrant foolishness to the world at large.

 

 

[little_sally]

Posted: 4/25/18 at 11:46am

This was a misfire all around. The cast is all in different plays, the set and costumes are garish, and the tone is so inconsistent. The epilogue is one of the worst things I've ever seen on stage--definitely reminded me of an SNL skit.

And God, this is long and dull. Perestroika is a full hour longer and just flies by.

I just can't imagine what MTC was thinking including this as part of its season.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 4/25/18 at 12:47pm

I really enjoyed this. I love the play, and don't find it too talky at all. But that's just a matter of personal taste, I think. I love plays that are really dialogue-driven, especially when they involve intense philosophical and moral debates. For me, the evening totally flew by - didn't check my watch once, which is rare for me. 

I agree there were some aspects of the direction that were distracting and heavy-handed, but I think Sullivan has a great sense of the basic drama of the piece. Each moment (of the actual scenes) was clear and engaging, and the show as a whole was very well-paced. 

Loved the acting, especially Rashad and Davenport. 

I saw the Donmar production last year, and while I found that one to be more well-directed, I thought Condola Rashad was superior to Gemma Arterton. 

I will say though that I didn't care for the epilogue. They had a drastically shortened (and altered) version of it at the Donmar, and wish they had done the same thing here. That was the only scene that I really didn't like, but I think that's really Shaw's fault. Sullivan handled it as well as he could have, I think. 

 

[Fordham2015]

Posted: 4/25/18 at 2:40pm

Ironically the epilogue was my favorite part of the show. It's the only section in the play that really grapples with Joan's legacy.

This show left me completely unmoved. I loved Rashad in Doll's House, so I was looking forward to seeing her in a true lead role. 

And while she's great, she disappears for long stretches so that men can talk about her. Page and Davenport each have good monologues, but I found myself really missing Rashad while she was offstage.

I'm not sure whether the problem is the play itself (let's be honest, Shaw wrote it in a different time) or Shaw's direction, which is pretty nonexistent aside from the dramatic scene changes.

I love MTC, and overall it's got a much better track record than Roundabout (I mean, even this was better than Time and the Conways). But after triumphs like Jitney, Little Foxes and The Children this production left me pretty cold

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 5/23/18 at 12:10am

So I did end up seeing this. I didn't find the pipes distracting at all. Or the lighting too dark. Maybe there were changes.

I agree with Whizzer that Condola Rashad was better in act 2, partially because Joan has more emotional material in act 2 and partially because that means she's less able to stick to her odd character choices from act 1. I found her portrayal of Joan very... forceful and exuberant. Which is fine but it was very one-note when she delivered all her lines that way with no depth or sensitivity or... levels. Also, this is the first I've seen her in. Does she always deliver her lines that way? I couldn't tell if she was trying to do an accent or "projecting" or had just chosen a weird cadence for her line delivery. I lost some of the words and she tossed out some lines very rhythmically like she wasn't thinking at all about what she was actually saying. I had trouble connecting to the character as a real person when everyone else was giving more comparatively naturalistic performances.

I did feel a sense of inevitability about the ending which works against how sympathetic you can find Joan, or at least how much you can root for her. However, I didn't feel the three hours at all. I thought it was a two hour play until I checked the time at the end.

And I do think we're supposed to care about Joan and find her more compelling than I did. I think it's hard to do a feminist reading that isn't divorced from the religious context especially since Joan doesn't feel that held back by her gender. If anything she's more masculine or at least gender nonconforming and she certainly doesn't seem to care much about other women so it's hard to see her as any kind of advocate or feminist icon, at least as portrayed in this play. Maybe I would feel differently if I were religious but I don't think we'll ever be ready for "saints" like Joan, at least as written in this play. Forget proud or disobedient and not behaving in a seemly matter for a woman at that time. It's hard to champion a character who is always convinced that she is right with little tangible evidence and I don't feel like play made her a fully realized character enough for you to examine whether she had other wants and desires besides her religious purpose (and eventually her desire for freedom) to know how much of her actions were driven more by self-interest even though words like pride, conceit, arrogance, etc. kept coming up. 

However, I did enjoy myself and I do think all the veteran actors are giving fine performances. I actually enjoyed all the talk, even if it doesn't come to a satisfying conclusion. 

[Broadway Joe]

Posted: 6/6/18 at 1:02am

I finally saw this tonight since it's closing Sunday and absolutely hated it. I never have issues hearing or making out words but I was in the second row of the mezzanine and had to pay extra close attention when Joan spoke because Condola Rashad's accent/cadence choice for this was miserable to understand. I'm not even sure why they did that since everyone else in the play wasn't doing that.

I didn't find her the least bit compelling or charismatic.  I sure as hell wouldn't have followed her into battle. 

I almost left at intermission and this would have been the first show I ever left if I did but I decided to stick it out and just ended up being jealous of the people near us who bolted during intermission. That ridiculous ending was one of the most embarrassing scenes I've ever seen on a Broadway stage.

The only positive thing I have to say about this show is that Patrick Page would be amazing at doing audio books. He was the only part of the show I actually liked. 

Updated On: 6/6/18 at 01:02 AM

[newintown]

Posted: 6/6/18 at 7:49am

You either like Shaw or you don't. Going in, you have to be prepared (if the text isn't slashed) for a lot of talk, and if the actors are good and if you listen, that talk will be fascinating.

I thought Patrick Page, John Glover, and Robert Stanton were A-list in this production, showing exactly how Americans can master Shaw. Rashad tried hard, but she doesn't (yet?) quite have the chops for this kind of role, which is really something a 30-year-old Judi Dench or Vanessa Redgrave would kill - actors with much more training and live experience playing text-heavy roles. Rashad's effort was far too obvious, and she often fell into the trap of playing a mood (and she gesticulated with her hands far too much for my taste - it seemed to be a distraction from her acting, rather than a part of it).

[Broadway Joe]

Posted: 6/6/18 at 9:42am

I haven't seen or read enough of his work to really form an opinion on him since I've only seen this and Mrs Warren's profession, which I found boring as well. Long shows with a lot of talk don't bother me at all, I generally prefer plays to musicals I just didn't find myself caring about anyone or anything in this play.

I definitely agree about her using her hands too much as well, it seemed like she focused on that and her facial expressions more than saying the actual words. I never have issues hearing and didn't have  a problem hearing the rest of the cast but I'm really glad I wasn't in the very last row for this one or I would have had an even harder time hearing her.