Saint Joan

Summary: 1951 live BBC studio production of George Bernard Shaw’s drama Saint Joan, mounted to mark the opening of the Festival of Britain.
Theatre play: Saint Joan by [George] Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) [more information]
Play synopsis: A ‘chronicle play’ on the life and trial of Joan of Arc.
Production history: 'Shaw’s personal reputation following the Great War was at a low ebb, and it is thought that he wanted to first test the play away from Britain. The play received its premiere on 28 December 1923 at the Garrick Theatre on Broadway by the Theatre Guild with Winifred Lenihan in the title role. The London première, which opened on 26 March 1924 at the New Theatre, was produced by Lewis Casson and starred Shaw’s friend Sybil Thorndike, the actress for whom he had written the part.' Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Joan_%28play%29.
Date of transmission: Sunday 6 May 1951
Time: 7.45-10.45pm
Series: Festival Drama
Channel: BBC Television
Production company: BBC

Producers

Val Gielgud, Kevin Sheldon

Playwright

[George] Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

Sets / Settings

Peter Bax

Cast

Ivor Barnard	Chaplain de Stogumber
John Benson	Canon de Courcelles
Alban Blakelock	Gentleman
Hilton Bowden	Bertrand de Poulengey
Elwyn Brook-Jones	Duke de la Trémouille
James Carney	Dunois, Bastard of Orleans
Heron Carvic	Dauphin
Jane Cotton	Duchess de la Trémouille
Constance Cummings	Joan
Felix Felton	Archbishop of Rheims
Jonathan Field	English Soldier
John Gabriel	Canon John D’Estivet
Jimmy Holland	Page to Dunois
Bryan Johnson	Gilles de Rais
Eugene Leahy	Peter Cauchon
Cavan Malone	Page to Warwick
S. Moray	Court Page
Humphrey Morton	Steward
Michael O’Halloran	Captain Robert de Baudricourt
Leon Quartermaine	Inquisitor
Martin Starkie	Brother Martin Ladvenu
Richard Warner	Capta’n La Hire
Alan Wheatley	Richard de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick
Edmund Willard	Executioner

Origination: Live from studio
Vision original: Monochrome
Later transmissions: Presented again at 8.15pm on Thursday 10 May 1951.
Extant status: No archival copy is known to exist.
Play tags: 15th-century setting; France, as theme or setting; historical drama; Roman Catholicism

Title: Radio Times, 4 May 1951 (Magazine)
Linking notes: listing, p. 41 and article by Lionel Hale, ‘Shaw’s Warrior Saint’, p. 39

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