The... Auckland Dramatic Students under the direction of J. F. MONTAGUE present...

Radio Record, Volume IV, Issue 33, 27 February 1931, Page 1

The... Auckland Dramatic Students under the direction of J. F. MONTAGUE present...

Joan of Arc. A Historic Drama in Five Episodes = T is difficult indeed for us in the twentieth century to imagine ?1 the state of France in the fifteenth century. Now the country is unified, but then, one spoke of the Burgundians, Armagnacs, Bretons and Provencaux and regarded them dis~ tinct from France. One strong man had unified them, several weak ones had allowed them to become disintegrated, to become ruled by petty barons always at war with one another. It was in some respects an England of the reign of Stephen, but worse, for the country was at war with the English, who were . ‘ then. strong and more or less unified. , When Charles VII of France nominally began his reign, his own relatives were as determinedly his opponents as was Henry V of England, whose frank object was to take the crown of France from his head. To make matters worse, the French king was mad and incapable of any real share in the internal government of his country, or in resistance to its invader. Everything was out of joint. The Burgundians and the Armagnacs were more bitterly at war than were the English and the French. The Scotch were taking the part of the French. . This is the scene upon which the beautiful, but pathetic, story of Jeanne d’Arc is laid. . The English with their allies, the Burgundians, were in occupation of the most important towns of France. In Paris an English Regent ruled, for the rightful heir to the throne had fled to Poitiers and by a disgraceful act of treachery his mother had bartered the crown to England. The shame and hopelessness 6f France was almost complete; when in a few short years all this was changed by a girl. We are inclined to look upon the story of Jeanne d’Arc, or. as she is spdken of in English, Joan of Arc, as mythical or as some . moral story that is told children for their edification. But this is far from true: we can read the actual words spoken in the inquiry

or the testimony of the soldiers, herdsmen and monks. They have been preserved throughout all these five hundred years and are a striking testimony to all that is noble and brave. She manifested that fervent faith that is echoed in high indignation in the poems of Victor Hugo and in the researches of Pasteur, who worshipped more the thought of Infinity as he saw more into the marvels of Nature. Jeanne was born on January 5, 1412, in the village of Domremy, on the banks of the Meuse, one of the little grey hamlets with its little church tower and remains of a little chateau on the

soft elevation of a mound not sufficient for the name of a hill. In this quiet corner of Lorraine life was calm and humble. Once during the English wars they had fled in terror before the Burgundians and had returned to find their village looted. It was a taste of war that . even this inoffensive countryside must feel. Her parents were labourers, and when she was ‘old enough Jeanne joined with them spinning hemp or wool, following the plough, or going to harvest, according to the season," She sometimes minded the village cattle for her father. A devout girl, she was sometimes made the butt of jokes, directed against her going to church so regularly. Who could picture her, a typical French village maid, tender and meek, controlling armies and over-ruling the decisions of counsellors. | _ But behind this simple exterior there was another Jeanne who dreamed of the liberation of France and the restoration of its monarch. For long she brooded over the presentiment that she must play an active part in the liberation of her country. When she was not quite thirteen, a child in all innocence, yet full of dreams, confused, no doubt, and vague, she heard a mysterious. voice. Between her and the church

shone a light unlike anything she nad ever seen before, and the voice was coming from it. "Jeanne, be a brave and wise child; go to church often." After what intervals the vision returned we are not told. It seems to have come to her out of doors, in the silence and freedom of the fields or gardens, Finally, the message came clear-cut, "Jeanne, you must go to the help of the King of France and it is you who shall give him back his kingdom." The message was followed by direction to go to a M. de Bauricourt, one of the French captains, who was to lead her to the king, Tt was with (Concluded om page | ‘]

On the evening of March 3 Mr. J. F. Montague and his players will present in five episodes the historical play "Joan of Arc,’ the story of which is told here. This moving story will be set forth im the present production, upon which Mr. Montague has been work_ing for some time past. The presentation should be profoundly interesting to all listeners, both on account of the .story and of the fact that a wonderfully fine cast has been arranged, including several new performers. Striking features of the production will be the exquisite music, rising at times to sublime heights, and the accompanying "effects," to which special attention has been given. Listeners will do well to keep a note af the date of this play--March 3.

Joan of Arc S ooummamnaneaenel _, (Continued from page 1.)

difficulty that she obtained audience to de Baudricourt, for she was but a raggedly-dressed, poor peasant girl. It was her fixed conviction that she alone could liberate France that gained her admission. At length she convinced the captain. He gave her men’s clothes, a horse and an escort, and after a perilous journey of, eleven days she came safely into the presence of the Dauphin, From the first the chief advisers were strongly against any encouragement of the visionary, or dealings of the super-natural. She was even made fun of by the younger’ members of the Court, who were deprived of their normal. sport because of their ‘expulsion from Paris. Charles, however, was more serious. Touched by her sincerity, he took the girl-aside. Her story impressed him, but more than he had to be impressed before this girl could be turned over to her military command. She went before all the ‘ecclesiastical wisdom, the university and the local parliament; she wasplied with a constant succession of ‘questions by all who cared to assail her with them, but no one could find anything against her. The decision to equip her for war came at last, and she took her place with the military leaders. She reformed the undisciplined army. She inspired it, Volunteers flocked to her side, she over-ruled the counsel of old soldiers; and her generalship was always right. In three months she had raised the siege of Orleans, taken Troyes, won the battle of Patay, and led the Dauphine to his crowning: at Rheims. This the voice had promised her, and she’ wished to return to the simplicity of her home, but the King forced her to stay. She advised him not to make peace until France was free from English invaders, but he was weak and sought the path of least’

resistance. He was lazy, hesitating and timorous. It is not surprising that, hampered by foolish orders, Joan was betrayed into the enemy’ s hands. She was trying to regain the town of Compiegne, but a party of Burgundians reached the bridge before her and, cut off, she was made a captive. She was’ purchased from the Burgundians for a king’s ransom, some £15,000 in our money, and led to her trial as a witch. Before the English could try her the Paris University had claimed her as a proper victim for the inquisition. Charles made no attempt to ransom her. From end _ to end of France not a finger was raised to help her, Those who did not condemn. her kept quiet. The Wnglish were no better than the French; they at least had the excuse of being the enemy. As a captive.the messages still came to her. To Jeanne the messages might have meant liberty, but they meant relief in another way. ‘The sunshine of her life was over, and now the long shadow of the bitter storm was to come. In Paris, bonfires were lighted- to show the joy of the people, the. Te Deum was sung at Notre Dame. . At the court of Charles the counsellors amused themselves with another prophet from the hills who was to. rival Jeanne’s best achievements, but never did so. Only the towns that she had delivered had a tender thought for her. Without the intervention of the French, the English were left to do their own willing with the captive. Her trial was in every way illegal. The lawyers who were brave enough to demand right were coerced into silence. She was submitted to subtle questioning, she was insulted and treated like a common prisoner. Her prison guard was of the roughest element, Against her they could find nothing tangible. She had not carried éven a sword. Only the lily banner of France protected her. She had not harmed a soul. see's Ter

But they: falsified her evidence and sent a spy as her confessor. They took her to the torture chamber, but she told them that even if she were to be torn limb from limb she could tell them nothing. more. At length, in 1481, a year after her capture, this innocent maid, who was not yet nineteen, was led out to die. "I would rather be beheaded seven times than burned," she told them. But her appeals fell on deaf ears. She had been condemned as a relapsed héretic, a daughter of perdition, and as one she must die-at the stake. A paltry sermon’ was muttered, she took the last sacrament, still believing that her voices came from God. A

priest who sought to comfort her was hustled away by soldiers, who exclaimed, "Wilt thou have us dine here?" Jeanne was no abstract heroine. She felt every pang to the depth of her natural, spontaneous being. She called to the saints, but they did not answer her; she was shamed in the sight of men, Then the executioner stepped in and seized the victim. He said afterwards that the method of fastening her to the stake was cruel, for the English had caused a high scaffold of plaster to be made so that the witch might be clearly seen, and this made it difficult for him to hasten the ,end. From amid the smoke and flame that began to reach to the clouds camé suddenly .a great cry, "My voices have not deceived me;.they. were of God." She had seen and recognised at last. Here was the great victory that had been promised-though not with

the clang of swords and trumpets af rescuing: knights as she had pictured, but by the sole hand of God. Thus died the Maid of Orleans. The’ remorse that followed is well known. Twenty years after the mar tyrdom of Jeanne, long after Paris and all that had been lost had been re gained, a new trial was appointed t« revise the decision of the old. In the same, palace a full and complete reversal of judgment was given. Her whole career was re-examined in detail, and her name expunged from the role of shame on which it had been entered. This remarkable and unique occurrence, does not seem to have. received any enthusiasm. Perhaps France felt too guilty. Only in the last century has it come to any glory. "T. have: no desire," says Mrs. Oliphant in "Jeanne d’Are," "to lessen our guilt,: whatever cruelty may have been practised by English hands. against the Heavenly:-Maid. And much was prac tised-the iron cage, the chains, the brutal guards, the final stake, for which may God, and also. the world, forgive a crime fully and openly confessed.. But it was the French wits and French ingenuity that tortured her for three months and betrayed, her to her death. . A prisoner of war, yet taken and tried as a criminal,.the first step.in her downfall was a disgrace to two chivalrous nations; but the shame is greater upon those who sold her than upon . those who bought; and the greatest of all upon those who did not move Heaven and earth, nay, did not.move a finger, to reseue her. And indeed we have been the most penitent of all concerneds; we have shrived ourselves Db. open’ confession and tears. We have’: quarrelled with our Shakespeare or account of the Maid, and do not know how .we could have forgiven him but fo" the notable and delightful discovery that it was. not he after all, but atfether and lesser hand that endeavoured to befoul her shining garments. France had never quarrelled with her Voltaire for a much fouler and more intentional blasphemy." — Order of Presentation. | FOLLOWING. are the five episodes and the incidental music as will be presented at 1YA:- . Overture, ‘organ solo, with trumpets: "Vision de Jeanne d’Are Meditation" (Gounod)-Paul Manaia. Episode 1. Domremy: The Voices: .Entr’acte "Kamennoi-Ostrow" (Part 1) . (Rubenstein — arr, Herbert)Bunswick Concert Orchestra. Episode ‘2, Paris. The Victories. ’ Entr’acte, Coronation March ‘from "Le Prophete" (Meyerbeer)-Berlin. State Opera House Orchestra. Episode 8. Rheims. ‘The Coronation. HWntr’acte, Meditation from "Thais" (Massenet)-Edith Lorand Orchestra. Episode 4. Rouen. The Trial and Condemnation, Entr’acte, "Symphony in D Minor, First Movement" (Part 1) (Caesare Franck)-Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra. Episode 5. Rouen. Execution and Death.