Theatre & Opera / Musical

Screenwriters and playwrights.
Lists of the plays, reviews, cast lists and other resources on the many dramas about Jeanne d'Arc.


The figure of Jeanne d'Arc has fascinated play writers throughout the ages. The best known plays, offering widely differing interpretations of her life, were written by Shakespeare (Henry VI), Schiller (The Maid of Orleans), George Bernard Shaw (Saint Joan), Jean Anouilh (L'Alouette) and Bertolt Brecht (Saint Jeanne of the Stockyards).

* 1596: William Shakespeare, Henry VI
* 1801: Johann von Schiller, Die Jungfrau von Orleans.
* 1923: George Bernard Shaw, Saint Joan
* 1938: Honegger: opera [Premiere] "Jeanne d'Arc at the Stake" (concert performance) in Basel, Switzerland
* 1929: Bertolt Brecht's, Saint Jeanne of the Stockyards
* 1946: Maxwell Anderson, Jeanne of Lorraine
* 1952: Jean Anouilh: L'Alouette (The Lark)
Jeanne d'Arc - Joan of Arc (1412-1431)
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Jeanne d'Arc - Joan of Arc (1412-1431)
Saint Joan of the Stockyards
Jeanne d'Arc is Joan Dark in Saint Joan of the Stockyards, Bertolt Brecht's first major political drama for the commercial theater.
A virtuous knight in a Christian army of salvation, she makes the stockyards her field of battle when she clashes with Pierpoint Mauler, meat king and philanthropist, over the heart of business and the soul of labor. More info

Contemporary list of plays. English only
Date Title Author Notes
1450 Mystery of the Siege of Orleans Anonymous (possibly Jacques Millet) First performed in Orleans four years after Jeanne d'Arc's death. The surviving version appears to be a revision from around 1450. God and several saints play major roles in this sprawling drama of more than a hundred speaking parts.
1590 Henry VI, Part 1 William Shakespeare Joan la Pucelle is the principal villain. Drawn from English sources of the previous century, this Jeanne d'Arc begins with the appearance of piety but soon proves to be a cunning witch justly executed..
1801 The Maid of Orleans Friedrich Schiller In literary rebuttal to Voltaire, Schiller creates a sympathetic Jeanne d'Arc as a Romantic heroine. A magic helmet renders her invincible until she falls in love. This influential drama dominated nineteenth century fictional treatments.
1896 Personal Recollections of Jeanne d'Arc Mark Twain This novel remains little remembered yet in his own opinion is his finest work. Twain spent months in France researching newly rediscovered documents. This reverent fictional biography is Twain's most uncharacteristic novel.
1912 Tapestry of Saint Genevieve and Jeanne d'Arc Charles Peguy Poetry. Peguy also wrote a play in three parts entitled Jeanne d'Arc, (1896).
1923 Gilles and Jeanne Georg Kaiser Expressionist drama explores Jeanne d'Arc's association with the most notorious criminal of her era, Gilles de Rais.
1923 Saint Jeanne George Bernard Shaw This drama, widely esteemed as Shaw's masterpiece, draws heavily from trial records. Historians dismiss Shaw's contention that she was an early Protestant with impartial judges. Subsequent twentieth century plays often mirror Shaw's interest in her trial.
1930 Saint Joan of the Stockyards Bertolt Brecht Transposes Jeanne d'Arc into working class Chicago and portrays her as a labor leader. Brecht made Jeanne d'Arc the subject of three separate plays, all with Socialist themes.
1946 Jeanne of Lorraine Maxwell Anderson This play-within-a-play with a debt to Shaw is chiefly memorable as the basis for Ingrid Bergman's screen portrayal.
1953 The Lark Jean Anouilh An allegory of Vichy collaboration in the aftermath of World War II. Lillian Hellman's noteworthy English translation adds a critique of McCarthyism.
1964 The Dead Lady of Clown Town Cordwainer Smith A far-future science fiction story with strong parallels to the history of Jeanne d'Arc.