Bedlam's SAINT JOAN Revival Returns Off-Broadway at Access Theater Tonight

Access Theater presents a 4-week encore engagement of Bedlam's critically acclaimed Off-Broadway revival of George Bernard Shaw's rarely produced 1923 masterpiece SAINT JOAN. In this bold, environmental staging directed by Eric Tucker, Shaw's play is performed in its entirety using an ensemble of only four actors to play all 24 roles. Performances begin tonight, March 6 at Access Theater where it will play in repertory with a new production of HAMLET as performed by the same four actors.

SAINT JOAN tells the story of Joan of Arc, a peasant girl who claims to have heard voices of angels instructing her to raise the siege of Orléans, to push the English out of France and place the dauphin Charles VII on the throne at Reims. Shaw paints Joan not as a saint, a witch, or a madwoman but as a farm girl who is an illiterate intellectual, a true genius whose focus on the individual rocked the Church and State to their core.

The cast of SAINT JOAN stars Andrus Nichols, Tom O'Keefe, Ted Lewis, and Eric Tucker. The production team includes Heather Arnson (stage manager), Samantha Steinmetz (assistant stage manager), Katherine Goodland (dramaturge).

Eric Tucker's directing credits include Hamlet starring William Hurt, Macbeth (nominated for Best Overall Production and Best Direction by LA Weekly), Pinter's Mirror (Berkshire Theatre Critics Top 10 Director and Production of the Year, 2009) at Shakespeare & Company; and Belle of Belfast at The Cherry Lane. Tucker received his MFA from Trinity Rep Conservatory, and is founder of the Trinity Shakespeare Summer Project.

Bedlam is a company committed to the immediacy of the relationship between the actor and the audience. With large ideas and modest budgets, the company creates theatre in flexible, raw spaces that always includes the audience. The company believes that innovative use of space can bring the audience into direct contact with the dangers and delicacies of life--inciting laughter and chaos, exciting thinking and recreating the thrill of lived experience.

SAINT JOAN runs tonight, March 6 - April 6. Schedule varies. Access Theater is located at 380 Broadway at White Street -- three blocks south of Canal, accessible from the A/C/E, N/R/Q, 6, J/M/Z subway lines at Canal. Tickets are $30 available at 866-811-4111 or www.theatreBEDLAM.org.