Anniversaries are naturally, concerned with time, and time itself contains a mystery. To sit in this church and look back thirty years [for those of us who can] is to hear the echoes of voices now lost, of different colours and circumstances, even another world. It is to find more than an echo in that we can still hear the music of Martindale Sidwell, and of course celebrate the presence of John Willmer playing his original part as the Inquisitor. [More of this later.]
A play about Joan of Arc’, yes, indeed, a fine choice but by no means the first about her. Joan, The Maid, La Poucelle – she was called by many names, able to defy the Church, dress as a man and lead an army, turn the wind at Orleans, be martyred at the stake and then canonized – it’s not surprising that she inflames the imagination just as she did the troops at Orleans.
Jean Anouilh presented his own idiosyncratic view. When Bernard Shaw was
asked why he had written a play about Saint Joan he said that Someone had
to save her from John Drinkwater.’ [For those too young to remember John
Drinkwater was an author who wrote rather solid plays about men of note such
as Abraham Lincoln and Robert E Lee.] Nothing solid’ in a derogatory sense
about Anouilh’s version – it is alive with passion and conflict.
It goes without saying that a dramatised reading cannot be the same as a
straight dramatic portrayal – the players who read from a script are one step
further from us. The question is – do they overcome this sufficiently to inspire
and move us, to bring us up to that point of communication where we are at
one with them and their passions and hopes? To this I must say a resounding
yes. John Willmer and John Hester’s production, aided by the superb lighting
by Howard Hudson, and the technical direction of Margaret Willmer, give us an experience which absorbed and moved us.
As Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais and Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, John Dansey and Adam Sutcliffe make their cases with convincing force – the Bishop has a quiet manner which is the nearest the church seems to come to forgiveness, and Warwick is an Englishman to the fore, concerned with winning battles and fox-hunting, and with little time for the French. Shaw said that there were no villains in the piece, but here we have the Promoter, played with almost alarming relish by Stephen Tucker, who comes as near to villainy as could be.
But the centre of course must be Joan – however powerful the men of the Church and the men of battle are, Joan with her Voices and her dedicated faith must light the fire that inflames the play and destroys her body at the stake. Lisa Burke grows in power and poignancy; she reaches a high point when, in a splendid scene, she infuses the Dauphin with the courage to stand up to the Archbishop and Le Tremouille, and give her command of the army.
The Dauphin? Well, yes; here was brilliance; Matthew Stevens transformed into a spidery, uncertain presence, being at once pitiful and poignant, playing with his cup and ball, and looking on his fellow-men with fear, mockery and distaste, became, inspired by Joan, someone of moving power. His entourage of wife, mistress and mother-in-law play nicely around him – Nina Trebilcock’s Yolande gave a fine impression of dignity and calm in the midst of turmoil.
But of course, facing Joan – and her Voices – representing the power of the Church of that time – is the Inquisitor. No question but that this is a presence that inspired the authors to write at length – Shaw’s character has speeches of several pages, and Anouilh’s are not short. It was indeed fortunate that John Willmer was able to give them to us with the power and gravitas which they need.
Joan and her Voices. Were they real? They sounded thirty years ago in this church, and some hundreds of years ago in Joan’s head. The Church – like Joan’s father would have none of them. We in this place and by these players before us – are persuaded that they are part of a mystery that will endure, and that the stake will go down before the final triumph of sainthood.
In thirty years the Players have set before us many plays of distinctive relevance – the great figures – Hamlet, Macbeth, Thomas à Becket – these and many more have played within the walls of our church, and their voices still echo. The Lark sounded the right note of celebration, giving promise of other voices and other fine productions to come – Lark Ascending indeed. Diana Raymond
Review – The Lark
Diana Raymond