AUDITION
SAINT JOAN
A Tragedy by George Bernard Shaw
Adapted by Meagan Mulgrew
Director: Meagan Mulgrew
Production Designer: Brittany Campbell
Stage Manager: Mads Barron
Performance Dates:
March 20th (preview)—21st, 22nd, 23rd
Performance Location:
The Studio, 2221 E Admiral Blvd, Tulsa, OK
Rehearsals begin: January 3rd, 2025
PLOT SUMMARY:
What other judgment can I judge by but my own?
Set in 15th century France, Saint Joan follows the rise and fall of one of history’s greatest heroines, Joan of Arc. Inspired by mysterious visions, young Joan successfully leads an army against the English occupiers, only to find herself branded as a heretic by her nation’s concerned rulers. Defined as a “tragedy without villains,” Saint Joan deftly dramatizes the power of perspective when examining what is right and good and invites the audience to become a juror in Joan’s trial.
AUDITION INFO:
Audition Dates:
Friday, December 13, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Saturday, December 14, 4:00pm - 7:00pm
Callbacks: Sunday, December 15, 4:00pm - 8:00pm
Audition Location:
Scissor Tail Studio, 1660 E 71st St #2l, Tulsa, OK
Details: Auditions will be a monologue of your choosing, either one you have prepared or one of the monologues from the show listed below. For this production, dramatic audition monologues are preferred.
If you cannot make initial callbacks on Friday or Saturday but are still interested in auditioning, please submit a self-tape of your monologue to meagan@riffrafftulsa.org by Saturday, December 14 at 8:00pm.
Callbacks will be scene readings from the script.
All levels of experience are welcome and encouraged to audition! Have questions about the audition process? Please email meagan@riffrafftulsa.org - we’re here to help!
CASTING:
For this production, we are looking for an ensemble of 5-7 actors of all ages (18+) to play 15+ characters. All roles, with the exception of Joan, will be double/triple cast. Actors of all genders are encouraged to audition.
AUDITION MONOLOGUES:
JOAN. Yes: they told me you were fools, and that I was not to listen to your fine words nor trust your charity. You promised me my life; but you lied. You think that life is nothing but not being stone dead. It is not the bread and water I fear: I can live on bread: when have I asked for more? It is no hardship to drink water if the water be clean. Bread has no sorrow for me, and water no affliction. But to shut me from the light of the sky and the sight of the fields and flowers; to chain my feet so that I can never again ride with the soldiers nor climb the hills; to make me breathe foul damp darkness, and keep from me everything that brings me back to the love of God when your wickedness and foolishness tempt me to hate Him: all this is worse than the furnace in the Bible that was heated seven times. I could do without my warhorse; I could drag about in a skirt; I could let the banners and the trumpets and the knights and soldiers pass me and leave me behind as they leave the other women, if only I could still hear the wind in the trees, the larks in the sunshine, the young lambs crying through the healthy frost, and the blessed blessed church bells that send my angel voices floating to me on the wind. But without these things I cannot live; and by your wanting to take them away from me, or from any human creature, I know that your counsel is of the devil, and that mine is of God.
CHARLES VII. Yes: I am afraid. It's no use preaching to me about it. It's all very well for these big men with their armor that is too heavy for me, and their swords that I can hardly lift, and their muscle and their shouting and their bad tempers. They like fighting: most of them are making fools of themselves all the time they are not fighting; but I am quiet and sensible; and I don’t want to kill people: I only want to be left alone to enjoy myself in my own way. I never asked to be a king: it was pushed on me. So if you are going to say 'Son of St Louis: gird on the sword of your ancestors, and lead us to victory' you may spare your breath to cool your porridge; for I cannot do it. I am not built that way; and there is an end of it. I don’t want to have courage put into me. I want to sleep in a comfortable bed, and not live in continual terror of being killed or wounded. Put courage into the others, and let them have their bellyful of fighting; but let me alone.
THE ARCHBISHOP. Take this as your last warning. You stand alone: absolutely alone, trusting to your own conceit, your own ignorance, your own headstrong presumption, your own impiety in hiding all these sins under the cloak of a trust in God. When you pass through these doors into the sunlight, the crowd will cheer you. They will bring you their little children and their invalids to heal: they will kiss your hands and feet, and do what they can, poor simple souls, to turn your head, and madden you with the self-confidence that is leading you to your destruction. But you will be none the less alone: they cannot save you. We and we only can stand between you and the stake. I see that I am speaking in vain to a hardened heart. You reject our protection, and are determined to turn us all against you. In future, then, fend for yourself; and if you fail, God have mercy on your soul.
OTHER OPPORTUNITIES
Interested in working with Riffraff but not an actor? We’re always looking for production assistants in lighting, sound, props, costumes, stage management, and directing! Send an email to meagan@riffrafftulsa.org and let us know how you’d like to be a part of Saint Joan.