Show

Written & Directed by

Sarah Phillips

Original Composition & Music Direction by

John Millard

Starring

Christine Brubaker

John Cleland

Patrick McManus

Karin Randoja

Puppet Design by Sherri Hay

Set & Costume Design by Camellia Koo

Lighting Design by Kimberley Purtell

Stage Managed by Kendra Fry

Co-produced by Ruth Madoc-Jones

Assistant Direction/Producing by Eugene Slonimerov

JOAN is an eclectic and curious retelling of the story of Joan of Arc. Staged outdoors on the cobblestone streets of Toronto’s newly developed Distillery Historic District, the audience will witness high drama, puppetry, live music, wild creatures and a burning at the stake. (Please note: no puppets will be harmed.) JOAN is about storytelling -- about the relationship between the story and the teller and the impact stories have on our individual lives

Joan's life and the lives of those she knew are played out for all to see by the evenings puppet-master, Wolfe, and his travelling troupe of performers. Despite his best efforts Wolfe is deeply moved by the perverse and cruel nature of Joan's demise. Along with Wolfe, the audience will be treated to a touch of death and violence, a tad of playful romance, and a bit of song and dance.

Namesake plays, especially those written about famous women in history, have always intrigued me. Aside from the obvious feminist interest in the lives of women who have defied cultural norms and risen to the office of ‘heroine’, part of my fascination with them has always been with their dramatic antagonists. These are plays, for the most part, written almost exclusively by men about women whose motivation and character ultimately escapes them. Not that it makes them lesser plays by any means but the real struggles in the plays are those fought by the men who are trying to deal with and understand these irrational and incomprehensible women. Little insight is given into the minds of the women themselves.

The challenge for me is to try and make sense of a life and a person whose place in history is so well known, visited again and again, but whose intimate, human self remains elusive. One could easily describe the available resource materials on Joan of Arc as an embarrassment of riches and yet we know so little of the actual person, the intimate and emotional person. For all I have read I still don’t know who she was. I need to make more of her story than merely a list of her battles, her crooked trial and her cruel death. I want to explore Jeanne d’Arc the person, the girl.

History is subjective and changeable. There is no single truth. With this play I want to investigate something of the evolutionary nature of history. Theatre, by its very nature, asks the audience for a suspension of their disbelief. I have found this means that an audience, essentially, believes what it is told. If a story is told convincingly, with commitment and feeling – why shouldn’t they think it true? To then tell another version of the same story, equally as heartfelt and sure, is to invite the audience to actively piece together their own version of the truth. This is something we do every day, knowingly or not. Throughout the ages Joan’s story has been called upon to serve various peoples and various ideals. I am excited to engage the audience in this notion of history re-making.

Christine Brubaker (actor: Hauviette/as cast) began work with red red rose as Salomé in Wilde’s Salomé at Summerworks and most recently she was seen as Antigone in the company’s new adaptation/translation of Antigone. Other credits include: Pinocchio (LKTYP), The Trials of John Demjanjuk (Theatre Asylum), Monsieur D’eon is a Woman (Buddies/Green Pea), The Whirlpool (Tarragon Theatre), The Wind in the Willows (The Grand), Of Mice and Men (Theatre Aquarius), The Paradise (Bald Ego), The Dog and The Angel (Caravan Farm Theatre), Featuring Loretta (Factory), The Orphan Muses (Topological Theatre) *Dora nomination – Best Actress, The Threepenny Epic Cabaret (Theatre Passe Muraille). She sings with John Millard & Happy Day and is a regular on the A&E series Nero Wolfe. Christine trained at the National Theatre School, Montreal and at Ecole Philippe Gaulier London, England.

Sherri Hay (puppet/prop design) Sherri is an artist, set designer and prop builder. Her work in Toronto theatre includes: (set design) Crimes (Alianak Productions/Can Stage, Berkley Street), Seizer (at The Velvet Underground), Godzilla (Crow’s Theatre/Factory Theatre), Vladeck (macIDeas/Buddies in Bad Times), Kissing the Witch (Buddies), Peep Show (Planet 88/Buddies), The Dumb Waiter (Summerworks), Easy (Toronto Fringe Festival), Jim and Shorty (Factory Theatre) and (props) This Hotel (Planet 88/Theatre Passe Muraille), Beaver and Belle (Factory). Her drawings have been exhibited in Toronto, the USA and Europe. Work in television includes art direction for The Surreal Gourmet (Food Network) and props for The History of Canada (CTV). Sherri did her B.A. in English at the University of Kent, Canterbury and attended the Parsons School of Design in Paris.

Camellia Koo (set/costume design) Camellia recently returned to Toronto after completing her MA in Scenography at Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design in the U.K. She has been a freelance set and costume designer in theatre for the past three years and is beginning to branch out into other areas of design for live performance, installations, and site-specific works. While in the U.K., she devised, directed, and designed her own theatrical installations as part of her course work and degree show. In Toronto, previous credits include designs for Antigone (Red Red Rose/Theatre Centre), Audience, Unveiling, Protest (The CO./Toronto Fringe Festival), Mother Tongue (Cahoots/Factory Theatre), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Equity Showcase/George Brown); St. Nicholas (Acme/Artword), and The Bundle (Acme/Equity Showcase); and work as apprentice/assistant designer with the Soulpepper Theatre Company on Platonov (1999 & 2000), and The Lesson/The Bald Soprano. Upcoming credits include set designs for Awake & Sing (The CO./Equity Showcase), and The Visit/Lady Windemere’s Fan (George Brown), and work as assistant designer to Vikki Anderson on Happy Days (DVxT/Soulpepper). She is also a freelance scenic artist/painter for various Toronto based professional theatre companies.

John Millard (composer/musical director) Mostly self-taught, John Millard has been active in the Canadian music and theatre scenes for the last fifteen years. He has worked with many Canadian theatre companies including: Theatre Columbus, Necessary Angel, Theatre Direct Canada, Mulgrave Road Co-op, The National Theatre School, The National Ballet, Manitoba Theatre Centre, Alberta Theatre Projects, Canadian Stage Company and Caravan Farm Theatre to name a few. He has composed soundtracks for the CBC and National Film Board. Collaborators include: Martha Ross, Richard Greenblatt, Susan McKenzie, Tomson Highway, Leah Cherniak and Peter Anderson. He has toured Canada and Europe with his bands The Polka Dogs and John Millard & Happy Day. He has released three CD's through Festival Records and is looking forward to the release of a fourth in April of 2003.

Sarah Phillips (writer/director) is the Artistic Director of red red rose and has directed the company’s productions of Salomé, Heart of a Dog and Antigone (Dora nomination). This past year she directed Cringeworthy (Alex Poch-Goldin) and, Vladeck (macIDeas/Buddies). Working with other companies she was most recently Assistant Director on Soulpepper’s Romeo & Juliet. Prior to that she worked for a couple of years as Assistant Director with Daniel Brooks and da da kamera on the development of Monster, Insomnia, and Faust. Other credits include: Last Stop for Miles (National Theatre School), This is for You, Anna (University of Guelph), The Barber of Seville, A.D. (Theatre Columbus), Major Barbara, A.D. (National Theatre School), The Comedy of Errors, All’s Well that Ends Well, A.D. (Stratford Festival). Sarah received her Honours B.A in Drama and English from the University of Guelph and is a graduate of the National Theatre School’s Directing Program.

Kimberly Purtell (lighting design) Since completing her theatre training at the University of Toronto, Kimberly has worked as a lighting designer and director. She first began working with red red rose on Antigone. She is the resident lighting designer for da da kamera and has designed the international tour of In On It (Dora nomination) and the workshops of Beautiful View and Cul-de-sac. Other design credits include Chekov longs…In the Ravine (Theatre Smith-Gilmour ) (*Dora nomination), Chekov Shorts (Theatre Smith-Gilmour, international tour) and Melo/Drama (The Believer Project). She is co-artistic director of Straw Dogs with playwright/actor Ryan McVittie. Recent directing credits include Animal Music, Paralysis, and The Contract.

Karin Randoja (actor: Isabelle/as cast) is an actress, director, teacher and singer based in Toronto. A graduate of The National Theatre School of Canada, Karin was a founding member of Primus Theatre with whom she created numerous original performances, noted for their multidisciplinary strengths, which toured throughout Canada, the United States and Europe. After 8 years with the company, Karin embarked on a solo career. For the past 6 years, she has co-created and directed original performances, acted in both new and established plays, taught singing and acting workshop across Canada, and has sung and performed in concert with various groups. Karin received a Fox Fellowship to study voice and singing at the Centre Artistique de Roy Hart in Malaragues, France and with Pantheatre in France and England. She is on staff at Humber College, both as a singing and acting teacher and is a guest teacher at The National Theatre School. Her critically acclaimed solo show, Think On Her, has been performed at festivals in Toronto, New York, Cleveland and New Orleans. (Best Performance, Summerworks Festival - NOW Magazine, 2002). She has recorded CDs and toured nationally as a singer with both John Millard and Happy Day, and Kavli. Recent credits include working as both performer and musical director for Blue Sky Transmission, A Tibetan Book of the Dead with Cleveland Public Theatre (sold out runs in Cleveland and New York), singing on a new CD with John Millard & Happy Day, and co-creating/directing (with Ker Wells) Celebrazio with the 3rd year students of Humber College.