Writer: George Bernard Shaw
Adaptation: Stewart Laing
Don’t wait for your time. In Stewart Laing’s clinical reimagining of Saint Joan, defiance isn’t just a historical footnote—it’s a digital-age danger.
Staged in the Citizens Theatre studio, this production utilises Bernard Shaw’s un-filmed screenplay to trade historical spectacle for a cold, modern, and often puzzling lens. It is a clinical, stripped-back dissection of power.
For much of the 90-minute run, the directorial choices feel intentionally alienating. A blinding, uncomfortable film-set light floods the auditorium, stripping away the safety of the dark seating bank and keeping the audience exposed. iPhones emerge from crossbody bags to feed lines through earpieces, as the high-stakes trial of the teenage martyr begins. The court lounges in the casual, domestic comfort of Oodies while deciding Joan’s fate. Joan (a defiant Mandipa Kabana) remains isolated in a school uniform—a “wee girl” claiming a divine mission, viewed as a “big threat” by an establishment of older men.
The production’s true power resides in its final moments. After the actors clear the stage, Adura Onashile’s film begins to play. It is here that the relevance finally clicks.
On screen, Joan transforms into a modern influencer, setting up her camera to speak with haunting urgency. Intercut with footage of activists and protesters being dragged away, the abstraction of the stage dissolves into a visceral reality. This is no longer a story about the 15th century; it is a story for now. It is a reminder that a young person who refuses to “wait for their time” remains dangerous to those in power.
Runs until 28 February 2026 | Image: Mihaela Bodlovich
