the girl Joana

 

 

play by Helmuth von Kügelgen

Translation by Maria Barbara Trommer
Adaptation by Ruth Salles

PRESENTATION WORDS
“In this work, we intend to show pictures of the life of Joan of Arc, the young woman who, at the age of 17, practically held absolute power over the armed forces of a nation in her hands. With that, France found itself, the map of Europe was transformed, and England turned to her own mission in the world. Joana felt just an instrument and acted in accordance with her spiritual direction. She fought alone, against the great and powerful of her time. When we are confronted with it, we feel an impact, like that of the encounter of destiny: a pure human being, who surrenders to a spiritual goal and a historical mission that points to the future; a human being who, crushed by the mission to which he remains faithful, actually achieves victory. Joana shows us, in a moving way, how to live the victorious word of the spirit, which is the source of life for today's man and for the man of the future.”

These words are a very reduced extract from Helmut von Kügelgen's introductory text for his play “A Menina Joana”. According to the author's own words about this play, "theatrical groups should adapt it and make the cuts according to their needs" and "the text should be used as a basis for a free adaptation." We then take the liberty of obeying your suggestion, following our own fallible criteria. For all possible imperfections we sincerely apologize. Thus, the previous explanatory words joined the Introduction (which would need narrators), and the play begins with the Prologue, which takes place at Portal do Nascimento. To compose this play, the author relied on historical and legendary sources, on original quotes from Joana's answers and sayings, and also on excerpts from the play “Santa Joana”, by Bernard Shaw. Apart from the Prologue and Epilogue, the play is divided into two parts, each with three frames; the six paintings bear the names of the places where the events took place: Domrémy, Vaucouleurs, Chinon, Orléans, Reims and Rouen. This piece has been presented more than once, the first being in 1981. For the presentation in 2008, I made a slight condensation, to make it shorter. There are more than 40 characters, but a student, as a character with little or no speech, can play more than one role. The Prologue calls for the archangels' speeches to be sung recitative.

Ruth Salles

 

CHARACTERS

Archangel Michael
Archangel Gabriel
Joan's Guardian Angel
Joana D'arc
Jacques, your brother
Lord d'Arc, your father
Madame d'Arc, your mother
Haumette, Joan's friend
Mr Morel, peasant
Madame Morel, his wife
Lady Rose, Peasant
Raymond, in love with Joana
Father Guilherme
bertrand, peasant
Robert de Baudricourt, captain of Vaucouleurs
Roberto's administrator
Little Johnny (Jean de Metz)
Polly (Bertrand de Poulengey)
Court page in Chinon
Rene, page of Dunois the Bastard
D'Aulon, Joana's page
Basque, another page
Charles the Dauphin
The Queen
The Duchess of La Tremouille
Annie, lady of the court
Maria
veronica
lydia
Archbishop Reginald
Marshal La Tremouille
Gilles de Rais, his nephew
Captain La Hire
Dunois the Bastard of Orleans
Father Paquerel
Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais
Earl of Warwick
The Counselor in Reims
The English Chaplain John Stogumber
Inquisitor Jean Lemaitre
The promoter Jean d'Estivet
Brother Martin Ladvenu
The hangman
english soldier

 

PROLOGUE

Portal do Nascimento – isolated from the rest of the stage by a translucent light blue curtain, which then opens to the scene of the peasants' dance, throughout the space of the stage.
choirs; Joan's soul; Archangels Michael and Gabriel; Joana's Guardian Angel; peasants.

In the foreground – the birth portal – Joana's soul rests, seated or on her knees, under a transparent veil, giving the impression of not yet terrestrial. The archangels Michael (red robe) and Gabriel (blue robe) sing their recitatives accompanied by a choir. If it is resolved that behind the transparent curtain there is a choir for each archangel, each choir must wear blue or red robes, with peasant clothes underneath, for the dance. If it is a single choir, separate from the portal, it is not necessary to wear robes. After the first two recitals, the archangels speak to themselves, and the choir, if present, withdraws. Joana's Guardian Angel wears a light yellow robe.

 

CHORUS and ARCHANGEL MICHAEL (sing):
“I am Michael, who stands before the Lord.
And behold, I say unto you: Praise him!
He is the source of life and the creator of worlds.
Praise him and thank him for everything.”

CHORUS and ARCHANGEL GABRIEL (sing):
“I am Gabriel, who stands before the Lord.
And behold, I say to souls
guarded by the stars:
– I heard, I heard the sound of this harmony,
to follow the call of fate.”

CHORUS and ARCHANGEL MICHAEL (sing):
“The being expands when it loves,
and do your work,
in small or large amplitude.” (end of sung recitative)

ANGEL OF JOANA (who is near her):
- Joana!
I am the angel who guards you and prepares you.
You are in the Birth Portal.
Open your way towards the Earth.
The Lord calls you.

ARCHANGEL GABRIEL (as Joan awakens and rises):
– Contemplate the land, the chosen homeland!
Behold! This flowery garden is France.
The spirit and culture of this people
should affect the whole world,
but now they are deadened.
The selfishness, the greed, the violence
tread the plants of human knowledge.
But this is the homeland that will be given to you.
Your path is revealed there.

JOANA:
– I will carry out what has been asked of me.

ARCHANGEL MICHAEL:
– Blessed are you. God is with you.
I will send you a helmet and a sword.

ARCHANGEL GABRIEL:
– Now go! There where the bells toll,
your parents and your work are waiting for you.

JOANA (steps forward):
– Courage will come. I want to. I will.

(The angels disappear with Joana at the back of the stage, as the scene opens. It is dawn in a country village. Peasants dance, then leave.)

 

FIRST PART

FIRST TABLE
Domrémy

Scene 1
Dawn of January 6, 1412. Village houses surround the square.

Mr and Mrs Morel; lady Rose; lord D'Arc; Father William.

 

MISTRESS MOREL (calling to her neighbor from the square): – Rose! Oh Rose! (when the neighbor appears) Have you seen the light?

LADY ROSE: – What is it? What it was?

LADY MOREL: – I saw a light in the fairy tree! (crosses himself) I respect these omens…

MISTRESS ROSE: And I thought I heard the sound of bells in the stable! I went there to check it out, and what do you think I found?

LADY MOREL: – You found the cows with their front legs raised above the manger; and they stretched their heads, as if searching for some invisible hay through the air.

MRS ROSE: That was it. They are crazy. How did you know?

MISTRESS MOREL: Well, I found ours the same way. Also, I saw the light in the fairy tree. I feel a strange unease.

MR MOREL (arriving): – What are those screams? I even thought it was those murderous Burgundians coming back.

LADY ROSE: – No. Everything is at peace. But it's a strange peace...

LADY MOREL (pointing): – Look, look! A white dove on the roof of the d'Arc family!… It flew! Where will you go?

(Everyone follows the flight of the dove with their eyes.)

MR D'ARC (leaving the house): – Ah, all the neighborhood together. And Father Guilherme is arriving, as usual! (the priest arrives)

A RUSH OF VOICES: – What happened? What it was? count! count!

MR D'ARC: – Father, soon we will have a baptism! My daughter Joana has just been born.

FATHER GUILHERME: – Right on the day of Christ's baptism in the Jordan. And at night like I've never seen it.

MR. D'ARC: – Come and see the child. Morel, Madame Morel, you will be Joana's godparents! (All go to Monsieur d'Arc's house.)

 

scene 2

End of January 1429, in broad daylight. Same scene 17 years later.
One of the houses is half in ruins, on fire.

Raymond; lord and lady d'Arc; Joana, Jacques, Haumette; Father William; Bertrand.

 

MR. D'ARC (walks, talking to Raymond): – Raymond, you opened your heart to me, but what can I do? I would be very happy if she loved you. The two would make a great pair!

RAYMOND: – No… Only if I were to fight for France, in the war!

MR. D'ARC: – Ah, poor France… We see our fields trampled by the horses of the traitorous Burgundians and the English!

RAYMOND: Your cry is as vehement as your daughter's. But there's nothing we can do...

MR. D'ARC: – And I am afraid for my daughter. She needs the protection of her family. It is in our villages that the cure for the homeland is found.

RAYMOND: – Joana says that a man alone can also accomplish great things. She told me that Santa Catarina has been talking to her.

HAUMETTE (arriving with Monsieur Morel): – Monsieur d'Arc, is Joan at home? Your godfather received a visitor from Paris today.

MR. D'ARC (indignant): – Paris? This Paris is honoring King Henry as King of France!

HAUMETTE: – But Joana is always interested in knowing what is happening in the world. (goes to the d'Arc house and calls out): – Joana!

JACQUES D'ARC (leaving the house): – Joana is not there, Haumette.

MR. MOREL (tells the others): – My friend ran away from Paris and told me about the wickedness of the nobles who betrayed the French.

HAUMETTE: – When it comes to power or money…

JACQUES: And what can be done to end all this?

(They all disperse. Joana appears.)

JOANA:
– Oh, my beloved Jesus, four years ago,
I hear the voices, I see the heavenly light
all over! - St. Michael the Archangel,
All tests have been carried out:
prayers, righteousness, waiting;
I came out victorious in all of them.
You show the way, and I go without fear.
Thoughts are so powerful
in this small head of mine...
If you want to protect her, São Miguel,
send the promised helmet today.

(She goes to one side, kneels down to pray; no one notices her. Bertrand approaches with a large shepherd's bag.)

BERTRAND (calls): – Jacques! Raymond! Friends! Come see what I brought!

(Jacques, Raymond, the Casa d'Arc, the Morels, Madame Rose, Haumette and Father Guilherme soon appear.)

MADAME D'ARC: Ah, it's Bertrand! Enough of Vaucouleurs, Bertrand? Didn't you see Joana on the way, by the fairy tree? Today, I don't know why, it afflicts me.

JACQUES (reassuring her): – She likes it there, Mother. And she knows the way back.

HAUMETTE: – Bertrand? What's in that bag? (hits her) The sound is like a pot.

BERTRAND: You're very smart, Haumette. But it's not a pan. It so happened that, in the city, the square was full of people arriving from Orléans with bad news.

MR MOREL: – It cannot be! Ah, if Orléans falls, the enemies will no longer be stopped.

(Joana gets up. She listens without being noticed.)

BERTRAND: - As I was passing through the people, a gypsy woman took me by the arm and said: "Friend, here is the helmet you are looking for, and very cheap." I replied: “You are wrong. Peasant wears no helmet.” But she insisted and I took it. It was so beautiful… And when I looked up, the gypsy was gone. (takes helmet out of bag and lifts it up, showing it)

JOANA (advances impetuously and takes the helmet from her hands): – This helmet is mine. Thank you very much, Bertrand.

LORD D'ARC: – How dare you, daughter? Return the helmet!

MADAME D'ARC (to her husband): – Leave her, leave her!

JOANA (turns to Bertrand): – Did you hear bad news?
The Brave Bastard of Orleans
does not maintain the defense of the city?

BERTRAND: – The siege closes around Orléans. We didn't win any battles. Only one stronghold remains: Mont Saint Michel.

JOANA:
- This can not happen. orléans
must be freed from this siege.

MR D'ARC: – Joana! It is not good for a maiden to speak of what she does not understand.

JOANA (to Bertrand, and without noticing her father's words):
– And where is Carlos the Dauphin?

BERTRAND: – Keeps court in Chinon. But he has neither the courage nor the money. Her own mother says she is not his mother.

JOANA:
- No! He is the true king!
And it will bring freedom to all.
Behold, heaven has already called for the Maiden.
Orleans will be saved. and the dolphin
will be anointed king of all France.

MR MOREL: – Such miracles no longer exist…

JOANA:
– Yes, there are, where love exists. (puts on helmet)
France will never be defeated!
God, through a frail maiden,
will save the land He loves.

RAYMOND: Your gaze sparks!

BERTRAND: Your speech is burning like fire. (to the lord d'Arc) God gave you
an unusual daughter, friend.

MR D'ARC: – Ah… May God protect France and the king. As for us, we wield the plow and not the sword. It was given to us to take care of the earth. Destruction departs from those who care for it. (exit or darken the scene)

 

SECOND TABLE
Vaucouleurs

single scene

February 12, 1429. In the castle of Robert de Baudricourt. Stone walls. To the right, a solid table. Further to the right, there is a section with a window or iron bars from the 13th century, and a tower, further to the corner, with an arched door or exit, which leads to a staircase that leads out into the courtyard. In the living room, two chairs for visitors and a stool for Joana.

Roberto de Baudricourt; your Administrator; Joana; Jean de Metz, Bertrand de Poulengey.

 

ADMINISTRATOR (enters flustered and distressed): – We have no eggs, sir! We have no more eggs!

ROBERTO (sitting behind the table, a rude and energetic man): – With a thousand rays, man! What do you mean by that "We don't have eggs"?

ADMINISTRATOR: – It's not my fault, sir. It is God's will.

ROBERTO: – You lie to me, you cheeky one, and the Creator is the one who takes the blame!

ADMINISTRATOR: – But, sir, what shall I do? I can't lay eggs.

ROBERT: – Oh! And on top of that, jokes!

ADMINISTRATOR: Oh, no, sir, God knows better… We'll all have to do without eggs, just like you, Monsieur de Baudricourt. Chickens just don't lay!

ROBERTO: – Stupid imbecile, do you mean that my Berberian hens, the best layers in Champagne, don't lay? Thief!

ADMINISTRATOR: – No, no, sir! There is also no more milk. They put a curse on us. We are bewitched!

ROBERTO: – Now, shut up! Robert de Baudricourt, knight and lord of the castle of Vaucouleurs, burns witches and hangs thieves, remember that! For God! Until tomorrow at noon I want the eggs here! Four dozen and two milk cans. On here! (hits the table with his fist)

ADMINISTRATOR: – You can beat me to death, but we will have none of that while the girl is at the door.

ROBERTO: – Girl? Which girl?

ADMINISTRATOR: – From Domrémy.

ROBERTO: – Dammit! Filth! So that girl, who was so shameless in wanting to talk to me, is she still there? You should have sent her back home.

ADMINISTRATOR: – I tried. She does not want. It's so persistent... (decisive)

ROBERTO: – For that, you have a dozen servants and fifty armed men. What the hell! My orders will have to be carried out.

ADMINISTRATOR: – But, sir, it is because of your strong will. We couldn't send her away. On the contrary!

ROBERTO (mimicking): – “On the contrary”. So are you all afraid of her?

ADMINISTRATOR: – No, sir. We are afraid of you. She gives us courage! Especially to soldiers; it is with them that she prefers to be when she is not praying.

ROBERTO (mimicking): – “When you are not praying”. Praying… I know that kind of girl who likes to talk to soldiers so much. Where is this thing? I want to teach you to pray!

ADMINISTRATOR (breathes a sigh of relief): – It's downstairs in the courtyard.

ROBERTO (goes to the window): – Hello, you there!

JOANA (outside): – Is it me, sir?

ROBERTO: – Get up here!

JOANA: – Are you the captain of this place?

ROBERTO: – Yes, you brazen. (sits back behind the table)

ADMINISTRATOR: – She wants from you soldier's clothes, armor and horse. She wants… (hears Roberto punch the table again)

JOANA (enters): – Good morning, dear knight of Baudricourt! You must give me a horse, some armor, some soldiers and you will send me to the Dauphin. These are my Lord's orders for you.

ROBERTO (half amused, half indignant): – Orders from your lord? But what the hell, who is your lord? I take orders only from the king!

JOANA: – The King of heaven is my Lord.

ROBERTO: – My God, she's just crazy (to the administrator): – Idiot, why didn't you tell me?

JOANA: – Many say I'm crazy, while they don't listen to me. It is God's will that you do what He, through me, wants done.

ROBERTO: – The will of God is that I send you back home and that I order your father to beat you until you get that nonsense out of your head. And now, what do you have to say?

JOANA: You won't do that, sir. You also said you wouldn't see me. And I'm here.

ADMINISTRATOR: – Do you see it?

ROBERTO: – Shut up, you idiot! (trying to maintain his superior posture) – I received you…

JOANA (interrupts): – Yes, my knight! I thank. The most expensive is the horse, and that one, Joãozinho will give me. And Polly's squire will give me your robes. I only need three reliable men on the way to Chinon. The Dauphin will give me whatever more is necessary, so that I can lift the siege of Orléans.

ROBERTO (who tried to speak several times without success): – Lift the siege of Orléans?!

JOANA: – Yes, dear knight. This is what Saint Michael the Archangel told me.

ROBERTO: – And Joãozinho and Polly… Is that what you call Messrs Jean de Metz and Bertrand de Pouengey?

JOANA: – Among friends, you say Joãozinho and Polly. Both go with me, if you order, of course. I already have everything prepared. We wait for your word.

(Roberto, impressed against his will, gets up and looks out the window.)

ROBERTO: – Hey, Johnny! Hey Polly! Come here! (turns to Joana and the administrator) – Both of you out! (to Joana) – I'll send for you later.

JOANA: – I am glad of that, my knight.

ADMINISTRATOR: – By God! I'll see what the chickens do! (hurries up and leaves after Joana)

ROBERTO (talks to himself, puts his hands on his head): – She's really persistent… Joãozinho and Polly, two good guys, of such different types, but both sensible… And she called me for you, the damn thing! Only now does it make me angry.

(Johnny and Polly enter, salute their captain militarily. Johnny cheerfully; Polly reserved.)

ROBERTO (sits on the edge of the table): – Between us, friends, we have been side by side many times, seeing death up close. What do you want with the girl? I know her father, an upright man, who is worth more than the burgomaster. I'm letting you know that I don't want to know about hassles. Do not touch that girl, of such singular beauty.

JOÃOZINHO: – She took a vow not to belong to a man. And what she promises she keeps.

POLLY: I think of her as if she were the Holy Virgin herself. There is some mystery with her. In the guard room, downstairs, there are rude men, you know their dirty talk. Well, they haven't said a single bad word yet. In his presence one does not curse. I don't know, there's some mystery with her.

ROBERTO: – By that you mean that you both take seriously this crazy idea of going to the Dauphin? You are not having much common sense.

JOÃOZINHO (vehemently): – And how far has common sense taken us? Do you know who owns the country as far as the Loire, and also this castle? To Burgundy and the Duke of Bedford! Soon they will take it from you. The Dauphin has fun in Chinon and doesn't want to fight. The Bastard won't last long. And with Orleans being lost, then… good night!

POLLY: Only a miracle will save us.

ROBERTO: – And you think that girl is capable of working miracles?

POLLY: She's a miracle in herself. Your word, your ardent trust in God… I think it's worth believing. It's the last way out of the quagmire we're in.

JOÃOZINHO (confidently): – Ask herself! May I call you?

ROBERTO: – You leave me in an embarrassing situation. Call her then!

POLLY: And you'd better examine it yourself.

ROBERT: – No! I stayed! And help me to remain lucid.

(Joaozinho waves to Joana excitedly through the window, and she enters.)

ROBERTO (talks to Joana, pointing to the stool): – Sit down! How old are you?

JOANA: – Seventeen. Because?

ROBERTO: – Don't ask! Responds! You say that Saint Michael the Archangel, Saint Catherine and so on speak to you?

JOANA: – Yes, they do.

ROBERTO: – And they talk like I do?

JOANA: – No. It's quite different. But about my voices, I want to be silent.

ROBERTO: And did God say that you must go to Orléans to lift the siege?

JOANA: – And crown the Dauphin in the Cathedral, in Reims.

ROBERTO: – On the way there you have to pass through English territory. Do you think being a soldier is herding sheep, driving a cow out of the pasture? Have you ever seen the English fighting?

JOANA: – After Domrémy was devastated, I took care of three wounded once. Human beings like you and me. In their land, which God has given them, they are good. There everyone speaks English. And the King of Heaven gave us France. If not, it would be murder to kill Englishmen in the fight. Roberto, don't be afraid. You must serve God, not men.

ROBERTO (angrily): – I'm not afraid! And who gave you permission to call me, a knight, Roberto?

JOANA: – That is your divine name. The names of captain, knight and Baudricourt you received from your father, from the king, from men. Roberto's you received through the sacrament of baptism.

POLLY: – See? No question she leaves unanswered.

JOANA: – A hundred like me, yes, ten are enough, when God is on our side! Don't you understand? As long as our people fight only for their own skin and not for France, they save their skin in the best way.

JOÃOZINHO: – And our dukes and knights only think about the ransom money. For them, it is not a matter of killing or dying, but of paying or receiving.

ROBERTO: – Polly, Joãozinho, maybe all this is absurd, but it can enthuse the people, the troops. And if she manages to excite the Dauphin, then she'll drag the whole army with her.

POLLY: You should try. Didn't I say there really is some mystery to her?

ROBERTO (to Joana, who had gotten up): – Sit down and listen!

JOANA (sits, humble and attentive): – Yes, sir.

ROBERTO: – Your order of service is as follows: you are going to Chinon, with these two knights.

JOANA: Yes, sir.

JOÃOZINHO: – And if the Dauphin doesn't receive it, what then?

ROBERTO: – She must say I sent her. Besides, my dear Joaozinho, if the Dauphin manages not to talk to her, then he has more tenacity and more courage than I thought. And it all.

JOANA (stands up, quietly and simply): – I thank you, Mr. Knight Roberto de Baudricourt. The rising sun will see us on our way to the king! (She goes out with Johnny and Polly.)

ADMINISTRATOR (enters in a hurry): – Monsieur de Baudricourt! Lord of…

ROBERTO: – What happened? Alarm signal? Do the Burgundians attack?

ADMINISTRATOR: – No, my lord! The chickens! The Berber chickens! They're laying eggs like crazy!

ROBERTO: – Lord Jesus Christ! It was you who sent her to us!

 

(to be continued)

 

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