mother of the maid | artistic director's notes

Joan of Arc isn't new to our stage. Her story resonates with a lot of Pacific Theatre artists, feeling called to do something her community - even her family - doesn't necessarily understand or approve of.

A 1999 production of SAINT JOAN explored George Bernard Shaw's take on the girl who became a warrior and a saint, and as a contribution to the cultural part of the 2010 Olympics we brought Reid Farrington's innovative performance piece THE PASSION PROJECT to the Push Festival, melding dance with multiple projections of Dreyer's silent film masterpiece THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC.

But MOTHER OF THE MAID finds another angle. It brings us the stirring and ultimately heart-breaking story of Joan herself, but the impact is deepened by focusing on the untold tale of her mother. It is as though Joan provides the strings for playwright Jane Anderson to play, but it's Isabelle who serves as the body of the instrument, the resonating chamber that amplifies the sound and gives it richness and depth.

Jane Anderson: “Mother of the Maid is a deeply personal play for me. I had a Joan of Arc obsession when I was a young gay girl trying to come out to my mom. I think women of my ilk had that with Joan blasting apart traditional male/female roles. Then when I became a mother, I realized how it must’ve been to raise a child like me. Now that I am older, I have a deeper understanding of what it is to raise an unusual child, and how painful and exciting it is.”

As the father of two daughters who have forged lives of their own, who fought and flailed to find their independence, this play hits me hard. Now, I had it easier than many parents - thank you, daughters - but still... You never love anyone more fiercely or more helplessly than you love your own child - or grandchild, as I'm learning lately. And the thousand sharp pains and quiet aches of the many inevitable separations over a lifetime are all part of that costly love.

I suppose at one time or another we all imagine ourselves to be Joans, to one degree or another. And most of us also love a Joan or two, somewhere along the way. And so we find ourselves in this archetypal story, told with such acutely human particularity, re-living these painfully personal questions. How do we find our way in the world? What if following our calling causes pain to the people around us? And when someone we love chooses a difficult way, how do we hold on while letting go?

Mother Of The Maid runs Sept 13-Oct 5 at Pacific Theatre

Tickets available now

or by phone at 604-731-5518