Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2018
Department 1
Theatre Arts
Department 2
Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Abstract
Contemporary theater makers aiming to present feminist-inflected interpretation of Shaw's Saint Joan could benefit from the practice of intertextuality: examining feminist playwrights' versions of Joan's story. Two plays by contemporary writers, Carolyn Gage's The Second Coming of Joan of Arc and Martha Kemper's Me, Miss Krause and Joan can illuminate the most pressing contemporary issues, highlighting the ways that Shaw's version overlaps with current feminist concerns, including intersectionality, positionality, and sexual assault. Such a process would empower performers and audience members alike, and would help playwrights, directors, and dramaturgs avoid some of the pitfalls exhibited in the recent rock musical Joan of Arc: Into the Fire. Also, since audiences in the United States and Canada are increasingly female-dominated and plays by women often make more money, such strategies not only could engender more culturally sensitive productions but also possibly even result in a higher box office return.
Copyright Note
This is the publisher's version of the work. This publication appears in Gettysburg College's institutional repository by permission of the copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution.
DOI
10.5325/shaw.38.1.0088
Version
Post-print
Recommended Citation
Russell, Susan Frances. "The Personal is Political: Performing Saint Joan in the Twenty-First Century." The Journal of Bernard Shaw Studies 38, no. 1 (2018): 88-112.
Required Publisher's Statement
The article can also be found on the publisher's website: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/shaw.38.1.0088?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
Included in
Dramatic Literature, Criticism and Theory Commons, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons