Shaw's 'Saint Joan' for a new age

From left: Andrea Ross in the title role of "Saint Joan," James Bodge, and Gerard Slattery at Wheelock Family Theatre. (Charles G. Baldwin )

With its production of George Bernard Shaw's "Saint Joan," Wheelock Family Theatre continues to expand its definition of what "family theater" can and should be.

Yes, later this season Wheelock will present "Seussical the Musical" and "Charlotte's Web," and those more predictable choices for a child-centered company are no less worthy. But by asserting that Shaw's thought-provoking, complex study of Joan of Arc is suitable for school-age audiences - and by following through on that assertion with a handsome and coherent staging - the theater is reminding us that young audiences don't only need light entertainment, any more than older ones do.

Joan is, of course, a fascinating figure at any age - and in any age, for that matter, from medieval to modern. Shaw himself saw her as at once a genius and an impossibly irritating person, an inspired rebel who was fatally unable to see how her inspirations would turn others against her. In "Saint Joan," he fully explores the contradictions of Joan's character and, significantly, gives equal weight to the characters of the men who condemned her to death. By refusing to create a melodrama of naive heroine and wicked villains, Shaw allows his larger themes - individual will and societal oppression, rebellion and reaction, freedom and fate - to shine through.

Unfortunately, the Wheelock production sometimes succumbs to the temptations of melodrama; here the clerics who prosecute Joan too often come across as simple bad guys, scheming and manipulative. That's far less interesting than the characters Shaw created: pious, sincere creatures so bent on doing what they thought was right that they were willing to burn a teenage girl at the stake.

Andrea Ross's Joan is also more monochrome, less complicated, than she could and should be. With a petulant pout and of-the-moment long hair, this Joan seems more like a spoiled American teenager than a defiant 15th-century warrior-maiden. Her modernity may be an attempt to connect with modern kids in the audience, but it flattens the character and warps the medieval setting of the play.

Director Susan Kosoff also has Ross, along with most of the rest of the cast, working at too high an emotional pitch from the outset. When every speech is delivered with vehemence and intensity, it doesn't leave much room to grow toward a climax. Perhaps that too is an attempt to keep young audiences engaged - and to keep plowing through the sometimes daunting verbiage of Shaw's text - but more variety in volume and emphasis would actually increase interest, rather than slackening it.

It's too bad, because Wheelock's design team has done an unusually fine job of creating a subtle and austerely beautiful production. Anita Fuchs's set uses soft-toned drawings and delicate Gothic arches to evoke Shaw's castles, cathedrals, and fortresses, all given mood and substance by Scott Clyve's sensitive lighting. Matthew T. Lazure's costumes elegantly play on Fuchs's muted palette of sands and pale blues, and Dewey Dellay's sound work evocatively introduces chant, organ music, and other appropriately medieval touches without ever falling into archaic cliches.

The soft and subtle design guides the audience toward a deeper understanding of the play, without shouting out directions. Now the actors need to trust their audience, too, and let the play speak for itself.

Louise Kennedy can be reached at kennedy@globe.com.

Correction: Because of incorrect information provided to the Globe by the Wheelock Family Theatre, a caption accompanying a review of "Saint Joan" in yesterday's "g" section misidentified an actor in the play. The performer playing an archbishop is James Bodge.