The 20th season of Gingold Theatrical Group's Project Shaw series, celebrating George Bernard Shaw's activist humanitarianism, will continue May 12 at 7 PM with a reading of Shaw's Saint Joan at The Players.
Directed by GTG Director of New Work Lily Kantor Riopelle, the cast will feature PJ Adzima (The Book of Mormon), Ben Davis (New York, New York), R.J. Foster (Fat Ham), Christopher Innvar (The Dead, 1904), Ty Jones (The Great Society), Robert Elijah Kollman (Black Rabbit), Rob McClure (Mrs. Doubtfire), Sean McIntyre (Junk), John-Andrew Morrison (A Strange Loop), Patrick Page (All the Devils Are Here), Madeline Seidman (Garside’s Career), Mark Shanahan (The 39 Steps), and Paco Tolson (Vietgone).
In Saint Joan, Shaw takes audiences on a ride from Joan of Arc’s first battle to rid France of the English to her infamous trial.
“With this play from 1924…Shaw was finally lauded as a playwright of importance after years of being dismissed,� said GTG Artistic David Staller in a statement. “Though now universally regarded as 'a second Shakespeare' who had revolutionized the British theatre, Shaw had to fight hard for respect. It was this play that finally inspired the Nobel committee to award him the Prize for Literature in 1925. He has the most comedic fun with the patriarchal characters in the play (much like last year’s film, Conclave) illustrating the absurd political maneuverings of the British Empire. After 500 years of denial the church finally admitted in 1920 that they may have made a mistake by burning Joan, agreeing to declare her as a saint. Shaw relished in the extreme irony, and this highly entertaining play is the result.� 
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The season will include with Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, celebrating New York Pride Week, June 23.
Gingold Theatrical Group's Project Shaw made history in December 2009 as the first company ever to present performances of every one of Shaw's 65 plays (including full-length works, one-acts, and sketches).
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