Poor things (poor cast). Now they're competing with actual historical people. 

I've abandoned a podcast that was sinisterly obsessed with Joan's hymen (just as repellent as it sounds) and instead, I have started on this wondrous thing which contains lots of lovely detail, lots of quotes from Joan's actual letters which pleases me and better yet, it's also replete with references to the various plays, books, songs written about her. She obviously likes Anouilh's version of events as he gets lots of page time. She seems to approve of his careful and thorough research. In my mind, she also doesn't like Shaw all that much. I wish she had seen Gill Taylor's translation - I feel she would have approved.

So the poor actors last night enjoyed the spectre of me quoting extensively from the book, sharing what I'd learnt and Bev is somehow meant to layer onto the script about Queen Yolande. Then I forced Joan to listen to me reading about little Jeanne lurking in the vegetable garden at her father's house when the Blessed Saint Someone Or Other first appeared to her in a blinding cloud of light. 

I'm not wholly alone in my fixation. Our Agnes had done some excellent research to uncover her very casual and flaunty attire which we shan't let taint our costuming thinking. Which drew me to the second book down in the futher reading section which I don't think I'll rush to enjoy. 

I'm not sure I've done a play before featuring people that actually existed. It's a curious and curiously compelling exercise.