Mt. Airy play about 15th century martyr still relevant

Posted 3/25/16

Rebecca Wright (left), director, relaxes after a rehearsal with Leigha Kato, star of “Saint Joan,” a classic by George Bernard Shaw. During auditions, Wright had her own personal drama when she …

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Mt. Airy play about 15th century martyr still relevant

Posted

Rebecca Wright (left), director, relaxes after a rehearsal with Leigha Kato, star of “Saint Joan,” a classic by George Bernard Shaw. During auditions, Wright had her own personal drama when she went into labor and gave birth. (Photo by Alexander Burns) Rebecca Wright (left), director, relaxes after a rehearsal with Leigha Kato, star of “Saint Joan,” a classic by George Bernard Shaw. During auditions, Wright had her own personal drama when she went into labor and gave birth. (Photo by Alexander Burns)[/caption]

by Carole Verona

Most people know the story of Saint Joan of Arc. Inspired by the voices of angels, a French peasant girl dons men’s clothing; defies society, her church and her king and leads her country's army to victory over the invading English forces. She was accused of heresy and other charges by a pro-English faction and was burned at the stake in 1431 at the age of 19.

“The representations of her throughout history are interesting to me,” said Rebecca Wright, who is directing George Bernard Shaw’s “Saint Joan” at Quintessence Theatre in Mt. Airy. The show opened on March 16 and runs until April 22.

“Shaw’s Saint Joan is scrappy. She’s a rough-and-tumble muscular girl with a generous spirit. She’s a singular hero, a woman in a man’s world. Joan is a complicated role, and it’s a huge role for a woman. The ideas are complex, and Joan’s relationship with those ideas is also complex. I know and understand now more than ever why usually much older actresses are cast in the role of Joan. But when I was preparing for the project, I couldn’t understand the story unless Joan is very young.”

After interviewing a number of young actresses, Rebecca cast Leigha Kato, 26, in the title role. “I knew Leigha when she was a student at the University of the Arts. She is inventive, imaginative and charismatic, all the qualities I was looking for.”

Leigha, who currently lives in Brooklyn, received a bachelor of fine arts in musical theater from the University of the Arts in 2013. A member of Actors Equity, she has performed locally in “Into the Woods” at Theatre Horizon, for which she received a Barrymore Awards nomination for outstanding actress in a musical; “4000 Miles” at the Philadelphia Theatre Co.; and “A Little Night Music” at Arden Theatre Company. She also dances, plays the piano and ukulele and sings.

“I was getting ready to leave for the audition when I got an email from Alexander Burns, Quintessence’s artistic director, telling me that Rebecca had just gone into labor!” said Leigha. “So I sent Rebecca a video of my audition and heard back from her a few weeks later."

Rebecca’s son Vernon, now four months old, was born during the audition process for “Saint Joan.” The director says she’s exhausted after giving birth but is very happy to be working. Her husband, Adriano Shaplin, designed the sound for “Saint Joan” and has been the primary child caretaker for the past month. Rebecca’s mother also came in to help. “Quintessence is such a lovely place to work,” said Rebecca. “They’ve really taken care of me and been understanding. I used to be a smoker, but now instead of smoke breaks, I take breaks to pump breast milk.”

According to Leigha, “By far, Saint Joan is the biggest role I have ever played. This is the first lead that I’ve gotten. I’m a little nervous because it is such a big role. I tried not to watch videos of others who have played this role so as not to muddle up my interpretation of it.”

Rebecca added, “When we were in rehearsals and still in conversation about the character and the role, I feel I learned as much from working with Leigha as she perhaps learned from me. She is really dynamite and has made the character as written even greater and more expansive … Shaw is very dense and wonderful, but ‘Saint Joan’ is a super talky play and runs the risk of being acted from the neck up.

“It’s also a story about soldiers, wars and a woman in a man’s world. As often happens to a woman in a man’s world, even today, is that her body is a battleground. So I’m relying on the cast to bring physicality into the world of Shaw. After the first read-through, we worked on our feet. I just wanted to keep the actors from sitting on chairs and working in their heads.”

Why should people come to Quintessence to see “Saint Joan,” which deals with ancient history? According to Rebecca, the ideas in the play are provocative. “People will come away with a lot of food for thought, questions about nationalism, the nature of power, the treatment of women throughout history, spirituality and more. They’ll stay up all night talking about it.”

Rebecca, a West Philadelphia resident, has a Masters degree in Performance and Culture from the University of London and a B.A. in English and Theatre from the University of Michigan. With an extensive resume of theatrical credits, Rebecca is currently the artistic director of Applied Mechanics, a local experimental theatre group. Her production of Jacqueline Goldfinger's “Slip/Shot” won the 2012 Brown Martin/Philadelphia Award. She is also an adjunct professor at the University of the Arts.

Quintessence Theatre is located at 7137 Germantown Ave. Call 215-987-4450 or go to www.quintessencetheatre.org for information and tickets.

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