Goldfinch Productions updates Shaw play, making Thunberg a 21st century Joan of Arc

Goldfinch Productions’ update on “Saint Joan” takes the classic George Bernard Shaw play from the 15th century to the 21st. It swaps climate activist Greta Thunberg for Joan of Arc and gives Washington Gov. Jay Inslee a hero’s role.

“He really was the first politician to make climate change his central core message,” said director Ed Thorpe, who adapted Shaw’s 1923 drama into a radio-style production that will be available for streaming beginning at 7 p.m. Sunday, April 25. “In ‘Saint Joan,’ there was one general, Dunois, who really saw Joan as a real person and not just a symbol, so it made sense to write Inslee as that character.”

“I’m a big and longtime fan of Jay Inslee,” said Kevin McManus, the company’s artistic director who portrays Inslee. “He’s been a great governor. I’ve had the pleasure to meet him on several occasions, and he’s kind and generous and all around a good human.”

McManus, who also plays conservative TV host Tucker Carlson, made no attempt to impersonate the governor.

“Any attempt to sound like him came off to me as an attempt to rib or gibe him a bit,” McManus told The Olympian. “With Ed’s guidance, I decided to drop the imitation thing and just play more to the story. The parallel character in the original story, Dunois, is a role I have always be interested in taking on.”

Both Inslee and Thunberg (played by Isabel Nixon Klein) are quoted in the show, which keeps the structure of the original play and blends Shaw’s words with new dialogue.

The show, in fact, is peopled with famous folks, mostly from the political arena.

Thorpe plays both New York Gov. Rudy Giuliani and Sen. Bernie Sanders, who recently was written as the hero — and played by Rabbi Seth Goldstein — in Temple Beth Hatfiloh’s “Doikayt Now,” written by Nomy Lamm.

Also among the characters in the updated “Joan” are Pope Francis (Rebecca Rogers Whitehurst), Pete Buttigieg (Ian Suchon), Kamala Harris (Andrea Weston-Smart), Mitch McConnell (Dan Overton) and Mark Zuckerberg (Kale McCrea). Also in the cast are Rebekah Bonnett, Drew Doyle, W. Scott Pinkston and Sara Thiessen.

The two-year-old Goldfinch Productions has focused its attention on older works where royalties aren’t an issue, sometimes remaining faithful, as with February’s “Rachel,” a 1916 drama about the Black experience, and sometimes taking substantial liberties.

“Joan was fed up and trying to change her surroundings,” Thorpe told The Olympian. “I think many people would say, ‘That sounds like Greta Thunberg.’

“Greta has inspired all of these people. Her speeches are great. They really get to the heart of these issues.”

‘Saint Joan in America’

• What: Greta Thunberg is the heroine of Goldfinch Productions’ radio theater-style adaptation of the classic George Bernard Shaw play, which combines quotes from people in the news with Shaw’s words and new text by Goldfinch’s Ed Thorpe.
• When: Available for streaming beginning at 7 p.m. Sunday, April 25
• Where: Goldfinch Podcast Network (https://anchor.fm/gpn)
• Tickets: Free, with donations encouraged
• More information: https://www.goldfinchproductions.com/

This story was originally published April 23, 2021 at 5:45 AM.