Photo Flash: JOAN OF ARC: VOICES IN THE FIRE in Rehearsal at Columbia Stages' Riverside Theatre

Columbia Stages presents JOAN OF ARC: VOICES IN THE FIRE, the 2012/13 MFA Actors' Thesis Production conceived and directed by Kristin Linklater and Rebecca Wright. JOAN OF ARC: VOICES IN THE FIRE will open at The Riverside Theatre this Thursday, November 8, 2012 and run through November 17. Scroll down for photos of the cast in rehearsal!

Columbia's MFA Actors have spent the past two years in rigorous training, immersed in classical texts and engaged in the process of building an ensemble. JOAN OF ARC: VOICES IN THE FIRE showcases their versatility and dynamism. Esteemed voice teacher and MFA Faculty member Kristin Linklater, together with Rebecca Wright, leads this production, which is based on the phenomenal and mysterious story of Joan of Arc. Shakespeare, Schiller, Anouilh, Bernard Shaw, Maxwell Anderson and Brecht all wrote plays based on the story of Joan, at least thirty Joan of Arc films have been produced and retrospective psychoanalysis of her behavior abounds. What do we make of her today?

Drawing on the actors' personal creativity and rich dramatic sources, JOAN OF ARC: VOICES IN THE FIRE is an ardent examination of an Idea that has survived for six centuries: the Idea of a saint who can save us. Here are ten Joans reflecting some of the facets of that Idea. The urgent questing energy of this community of actors explores the Saint within the context of the drastic issues that face our world today.

CREATIVE TEAM: Concept and Direction Kristin Linklater and Rebecca Wright; Writer at Large Stacy Davidowitz; Set Designer Kris Stone; Costume Designer Oana Ban; Lighting Designer Dante Smith; Sound Designer Jay Spriggs; Props Samara Weiss; Assistant Costume Designer Karen Boyer; Stage Manager Tom Taylor; Assistant Stage Managers Colleen Lacy, Caroline Watters; General Manager Mia Lujun Shen; Company Manager Natalie Gershtein.

JOAN: VOICES IN THE FIRE features the Columbia University Graduate Theatre Acting Class of 2013: Kassianni Austin, Lena Bull, Lauren Cipoletti, Zach C. Clark, Neil D'Astolfo, Nika Ezell Pappas, Tom Giordano, John Garrett Greer, Laura Lassy, Simone Leanora Mack, Allison Minick, Michael Mullen, Anita Petry, Paige Patterson, Hardy Pinnell, Vincent Torres and Liba Vaynberg.

Kristin Linklater trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. She was the Master Teacher of Voice at New York University from 1965 to 1977, while also working with the Open Theater; the Negro Ensemble Company, Stratford, Ontario; the Guthrie Theatre; and Broadway shows. She was co-founder of Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Massachusetts, in 1977. She has received major grants from the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. She is also a 1981 Guggenheim Fellow and a lecturer, writer, and actor, playing the title role in King Lear, produced by The Company of Women, her all-women Shakespeare company co-directed with Carol Gilligan. She is the author of Freeing the Natural Voice (1976)-the revised and expanded edition of which was published in 2006-and Freeing Shakespeare's Voice (1992). She taught at Emerson College in Boston from 1991 to 1997.

Rebecca Wright has directed and dramaturged at PlayPenn Development Conference, InterAct Theatre Company, and at the Lark Play Development Center. She has developed work with performers for First Person Arts, Micro-Fest Philadelphia, and SoLow Festival. Recent directing credits include Slip/Shot with Flashpoint Theatre Company, Sophie Gets the Horns with The Riot Group at Incubator Arts, and Merry Wives of Windsor with Philadelphia's Shakespeare in Clark Park. Rebecca is co-founder and artistic director of Applied Mechanics, with whom she directs collaboratively created immersive theatre pieces, including Philadelphia Fringe Festival hits Portmanteau and Overseers, and the 26-person historical fantasia about Napoleonic Europe, Vainglorious: The Epic Feats of Notable Persons in Europe After the Revolution. Rebecca holds a BA in Theatre and English from the University of Michigan and an MA in Performance and Culture from the University of London, and has worked with students at the University of Michigan, Swarthmore College, Arcadia University, and Temple University. She is the recipient of a 2012 Independence Fellowship.

Columbia Stages is the producing arm of the Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theatre Studies at Columbia University School of the Arts. Columbia Stages presents annually a season of graduate actor and director productions as well as a festival of new plays by emerging playwrights. The Theatre Program at Columbia University School of the Arts offers MFA degrees in: Acting, Directing, Playwriting, Dramaturgy, Stage Management, and Theatre Management & Producing. For more information about the Columbia University School of the Arts Theatre Program visit http://arts.columbia.edu/theatre.

The Riverside Theatre is located at 91 Claremont Ave. between 120th & 122nd Streets.  For tickets and up-to-date information, visit columbiastages.org.

The Cast of JOAN OF ARC: VOICES IN THE FIRE

Kristin Linklater directs Neil D'Astolfo 

Kristin Linklater watches the cast of JOAN OF ARC: VOICES IN THE FIRE

Nika Ezell Pappas and Anita Petry

The Cast of JOAN OF ARC: VOICES IN THE FIRE