Joan of Lorraine by Maxwell Anderson


Joan of Lorraine
Title : Joan of Lorraine
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0822205939
ISBN-10 : 9780822205937
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 72
Publication : First published May 1, 1947

Most persons are familiar with the story of Joan of Arc, so it is necessary only to say that this is a play within a play, the outer play (as it were) showing a group of actors in rehearsal on a bare stage, preparing to produce a Joan of Arc play. The story of Joan's visions and pilgrimage to court, her restoring faith to the French and the victory she wins, are beautifully dramatized. But Anderson has woven into the Joan story a parallel action, which takes place outside the Joan play proper, in which he shows the meaning of faith today and the necessity of believing in something. The actress who plays Joan claims that the role should show her never compromising her ideals, and she is ready to leave the cast because she thinks the part and the direction of herself shows Joan doing just that. But she learns, from her director and fellow players, that life is a series of compromises, and that she herself, as an actress, like the historical Joan, can and should give in on small things in order to achieve the greatest good in a larger sense. In acting her part through to the end, she learns the lesson that Joan taught the world, of great faith and idealism, tempered by reality and the acceptance of the necessary limitations which are in all of us."

Joan of Lorraine Reviews

  • Carolyn Page

    A play (the story of St. Joan) within a play (the company of actors putting on "St. Joan") that starred Ingrid Bergman as St. Joan/Mary Grey. An absorbing drama on the meaning and importance of faith and righteousness, what it means to everybody, and what it means to have faith while in the world--what it means to compromise. The conflicts over and around the play by the acting company were especially interesting. Coming from community theatre, discussion on the meaning of a play is often lacking.

  • Beth

    Calvin College

  • Stuart

    Maybe the best thing Maxwell Anderson has left us, this extensive discussion of artistic and personal integrity is also a deep love letter to the theater and the thinly veiled Ingrid Bergman leading lady at its center. An interesting and unexpected backstage drama, Anderson weaves his separate narratives together well, the only flaw (maybe) that he could have probably more effectively doubled the characters and cut the cast down to a more reasonable 15, from the somewhat ludicrous 22 as written (only five of which, sadly, are roles for women), but the piece also very much captures the time it was written in, so the flaw is more of a predicament producers and directors in our modern era would have to figure out, and the only part of the play that feels dated. The two leads, Mary and Jimmy, are both well-crafted and exciting characters, with Mary in particular owning her play just as her character in the play-within-a-play, owns her story. Joan of Arc, the perpetual symbol of undaunted integrity, has all the rigid individualism and zealotism as John Proctor, who feels like an obvious but inadequate comparison, as each are given an 11th hour escape from martyrdom only to choose the fate that will ultimately define them. That Anderson is able to redeem Joan's tragedy with Mary's triumph is the deeply gratifying trick of the play.

  • بسام عبد العزيز

    رائعة بالفعل! منذ فترة طويلة لم اجد مسرحية بهذه الروعة..
    نفس ��لاحداث في كل زمان ومكان تتكرر بحذافيرها مع اختلاف الأشخاص.. السلطة الفاسدة المستعدة للتحالف مع الشيطان نفسه في سبيل البقاء على الكرسي..
    الدين المستخدم كوسيلة للسيطرة على عقول الناس و للحصول على ولائهم التام للحكام و أحيانا كوسيلة للابتزاز المعنوي و النفسي و المادي..
    رجال السلطان الذين يلوون الحقائق و يلعبون على كل الحبال من أجل الحصول على رضاء ولى نعمتهم حتى لو لو كان هذا على حساب الشعب..
    الشعب الجبان الذي يهرب عند سقوط القائد...
    البطل المؤمن برسالته و الذي لابد أن يضحي من اجلها بحياته..

    إنها نفس الاحداث.. نراها كل يوم .. يبدو لي أن البشرية لن تتوقف عن الانبطاح للدين و السقوط في مستنقع السلطة أبدا!!

    كان اجمل ما في المسرحية هو الحوار الذي دار بين جان دارك و بين القضاة أثناء محاكمتها .. تخيلت في البداية أن الحوار من وحى المؤلف لكن اكتشف ان الحوار الحقيقي بالفعل كان تقريبا كما ذكره المؤلف في المسرحية .. و لهذا ازداد انبهاري بشدة بتلك الشخصية ذات الهالة الاسطورية.. ولولا ان هذه الكلمات كانت كلمات حقيقية و ليست من وحى خيال المؤلف و كل ما فعله هو استخدامها لكنت قد منحت المسرحية الخمس نجمات كاملة..
    مسرحية تستحق أن تقرأ مرة أخرى و ثالثة بالفعل

  • Cynthia Egbert

    Of all the plays written about Joan of Arc. This is my favorite!