Saint Joan – George Bernard Shaw

"Must then a Christ perish in torment in every age to save those that have no imagination?"

Shaw retells the story of Joan of Arc, portraying her not as a mystical saint but as a brilliant, practical, and dangerous genius. She threatens the feudal lords and the church hierarchy because she listens to her own inner voice (her 'voices') rather than authority. The play follows her rise, her trial, and her execution.

This play restored Joan of Arc's reputation as a proto-Protestant and a nationalist icon. Shaw explores the tragedy of the visionary who is always crushed by the institutions of the world, even if they later canonize her.