About Saint Joan
GEORGE BERNARD SHAW'S SAINT JOAN
In 1913, George Bernard Shaw visited Orléans and saw the 15th-century sculptured head of St Maurice, believed to have been modeled after Saint Joan. "It is a wonderful face . . . the face of a born leader," he wrote. "I shall do a Joan play some day." Ten years later, Shaw's Saint Joan: A Chronicle Play in Six Scenes and an Epilogue, debuted on Broadway. This is the centennial anniversary of Saint Joan's Broadway premiere. In that time, Joan has been portrayed by many of the greatest actresses of the 20th and 21st Century, including Sybil Thorndike, Wendy Hiller, Katherine Cornell, Uta Hagen, Joan Plowright, Jean Seberg, Imelda Staunton, Lynn Redgrave, Judi Dench, Constance Cummings, Frances de la Tour, Eileen Atkins, Jane Alexander, Elisabeth Bergner, Lee Grant, Sarah Miles, Zoe Caldwell, Diana Sands and Ellen Geer.
IMAGES OF SAINT JOAN
Ghostlight Players, Inc.
Upon founding Ghostlight Players in 2019, Artistic Director Gary Bradley and Executive Director Charles Sullivan focused their efforts initially on providing a venue for creative people to perform and work together in an inclusive and welcoming environment, creating theatrical productions that are rarely, if ever, undertaken in community theatre. In Ghostlight’s inaugural season, the company produced a three play (one a week) festival, consisting of The Fantasticks, Twelve Angry Men and Five Women Wearing the Same Dress, producing the musical 1776 on the Fourth of July weekend, and ending with Pride and Prejudice in November. All performances took place at the Courthouse in Historic Richmond Town. The Company began its second season with the musical Cabaret and were well into rehearsal of the musical when the pandemic struck. Ghostlight apparently answered a need – virtually all of shows were completely sold out with standing room only and waiting lists, and the Company quickly developed a fanatically loyal audience. Ghostlight also collaborated with Board member Dennis McKeon to form a props, staging material and costume collection through his company, Where-To-Turn, through which the now extensive collection of costumes, set pieces, furniture, scenery and props are being loaned to grammar and high schools and colleges, community theatre groups, filmmakers and professional theatres and film productions, all free of charge, a mission that became more pressing with the closing of so many costume and prop houses in New York City during the pandemic.
During the pandemic, Ghostlight served the theatre community in a series of staged readings of classic and modern plays with casts comprising amateur and professional actors across the country. This effort culminated in a massive holiday video project, including readings from A Christmas Carol and performances of holiday classics by a wide variety of performers backed up by a house band.
Ghostlight kicked off its return to live theatre at Hemsley Hall with a Christmas concert, followed by live productions of The Man Who Came to Dinner, Good Grief, Sweat, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, A Few Good Men, The Apple Tree and A Christmas Carol. The Company launches its third season with Saint Joan.
From the onset, Ghostlight has been guided by three fundamental goals: to produce and perform classic and contemporary works of theatre cultivating opportunities for members of the Staten Island community to grow in their artistic pursuits; to provide a rich learning environment where diverse individuals of all ages and skill sets can hone their theatre crafts and to introduce participants and audience members to great works of theatre, plays and musicals, classic and contemporary, in the form of live performances in their community. In just two years of live production, Ghostlight has been able to reach out to and welcome many individuals and communities that have not previously participated in community theatre and Ghostlight intends to continue with that work.