Ever since she was a child and her father introduced her to Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw and his 1924 work Saint Joan, Meg Roe has had her sights set on the role of Joan of Arc.
鈥淚t鈥檚 sort of one of those roles that you鈥檙e meant to play if you think you鈥檙e an actress,鈥� says the actor/director.
Published just four years after Joan of Arc was canonized, Shaw鈥檚 play dramatizes the life and trial of the pious peasant girl who claimed that voices and visions from God commanded her to rally the French army and lead the troops to victory against the English in the Hundred Years War. Ultimately, though, she was captured by the English, put on trial for heresy and burnt at the stake.
Fulfilling a lifelong acting ambition, Roe is taking on the part of the legendary 鈥淢aid of Orleans鈥� in the Arts Club鈥檚 production of Saint Joan, directed by Kim Collier. It鈥檚 been more than 500 years since the controversial trial that condemned Joan of Arc to death, and yet she remains a heroine in France and a popular figure in literature, art and pop culture. Roe isn鈥檛 surprised that the legacy of this 15th century martyr has endured the ages.
鈥淚t鈥檚 her fierce determination to stick to what she believed in against all odds. She鈥檚 one of the best-recorded medieval female figures. We don鈥檛 know that much about medieval women 鈥� no one wrote about them 鈥� but Joan was written about a lot,鈥� Roe says, noting that detailed records from the condemnation trial have survived the centuries. 鈥淪he just had this incredible tenacity. She really stuck true to herself, which is just inspiring. I think that鈥檚 why we still want to talk about her.鈥�
Roe adds, 鈥淸Shaw] was writing it in the context of the First World War and nationalism and the rise of nationalism and how those ideas were damaging or powerful.鈥�
A year after Saint Joan was published, Shaw was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Although his play was written with theatre-goers of the 1920s in mind, Roe expects the story will resonate with audiences today just as powerfully as it did then.
鈥淧eople are getting up and fighting in the name of God all over the world. It鈥檚 extremely frightening,鈥� she says of the modern era. 鈥淪o I think the play speaks to us maybe in a different way than Shaw intended in some respects, but we hear ourselves in it still, I think. It rattles us.鈥�
Saint Joan marks Roe鈥檚 return to acting after two and a half years off the stage and it鈥檚 been a joy to perform again, she says.
But Joan of Arc is also an inherently challenging role 鈥� one that has presented Roe with tough questions about her character, about power and destiny that don鈥檛 have black-and-white answers.
鈥淚 hope it鈥檚 that way for the audience too. I think Shaw can be challenging because he asks big questions with lots of words. He wants you to listen and not just receive. He wants you to engage with him, with his ideas,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut I think it鈥檚 a pleasure when you find yourself understanding and following and enjoying what he鈥檚 positing, what he鈥檚 putting out there.鈥�
In any case, Roe believes Saint Joan is 鈥渁 play for our time.鈥� It deals with violence, war, God, humanity, the self 鈥� 鈥渁nd how all those things combine to hopefully create a gentle and loving civilization, and how often they do not.鈥�
Saint Joan is at the Stanley Theatre until Nov. 23.
