Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4.0 out of 5 stars
The Must be Seen for the Full Impact, August 23, 2005
Although, I haven't actually read the play, I did just see it performed in Stratford, Ontario, at their annual Stratford Festival, with Amanda Plummer in the starring role. I can only say it was gripping and extremely well done, and Amanda Plummer (along with other Canadian big actor Martha Henry) was excellent. The playwright may be writing about a 15th Century young woman, but watching it on stage in today's political and historical circumstances, it sheds a whole different light. I encourage any reader of the play to consider various other historical periods and how they might apply to the themes of this play. This play, to me, uses Joan of Arc, as the storyline, but it is more about man's contradictory nature (among other themes). This Stratford director also set the costumes/set design during WWII, and watching it w/the Nazi/Concentration Camp overtones really made us think. It made for great dialogue with other theater-goers after the show. Definitely a must-see!
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6 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best Dramatization of the Story of Joan of Arc, October 6, 2003
By A Customer
I saw this play many, many years ago on television, of all things! This was when TV was fairly new, and they really did know how to present fine drama to a fare-thee-well back then. I believe this presentation of Jean Anouilh's THE LARK was live, although I'm not sure. It starred Julie Harris. I'll never forget it. I was very small, and what I didn't understand my family explained to me.I say I'll never forget it, but, now in my 50s, I can't remember a lot of the details. What I can't forget is how terribly powerful the play was, how gripping, how beautifully written, and what a spectacular performance Julie Harris gave. I don't think anyone can out-do her Joan of Arc (or her Nora of A DOLL'S HOUSE, for that matter--also performed on TV). To the best of my recollection, the play focuses on the trial of Joan of Arc for heresy, and the final verdict, and her execution. What a rare and special treat that was, even to a small child. and a few years later, as I mentioned above, the rendition of A DOLL'S HOUSE, with Julie Harris's incomparable performance, as well as Christopher Plummer's--I have not forgotten that, either. Do read Jean Anouilh's THE LARK.
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by George Bernard Shaw
by Tracy Letts
by Christopher Hampton
by Richard Boleslavski
by Christopher Durang
