I, Joan at Shakespeare's Globe – review round-up

I, Joan – Radical and irreverent

It’s clear from the get-go that Josephine’s playful script is not aiming for pristine historical accuracy. Packed with direct address and intentional anachronisms, Sam Marlowe (The Stage, ★★★) calls it "part queer fantasia, part protest march, part ecstatic dance-floor celebration", but notes that its "polemic is more often blunt and declamatory than dramatically integrated". Similarly, Andrzej Lukowski (Time Out, ★★★) describes the show as "a giddy fantasy of Joan as a liberated non-binary icon, not a historical re-enactment", but one that misses the opportunity to "[ask] more searching questions of Joan beyond their gender identity". Isobel Lewis (Independent, ★★★★) calls it a "funny and fierce" rebuttal to its detractors that "makes nuanced, incredibly complex points about gender".

The irreverent tone doesn’t hit home with everyone. For Claire Allfree (Telegraph, ★★) the drama is "desperately thin" and "weirdly toothless", relying on "affirmative slogans rather than argument". But for others, the play feels resonant and timely.

Mickey Jo Boucher (WhatsOnStage, ★★★★★) calls it a "genuinely revolutionary" and "strikingly important" production that "simmers with queer rebellion which ultimately bubbles over into riotous euphoria". Donald Hutera (Times, ★★★★★) praises Josephine’s "stirring, questioning and incendiary work" that’s "at once politically charged and deeply personal". Scott Matthewman (Reviews Hub, ★★★★★) thinks the play is a great fit for the Globe, noting that, like Josephine, "Shakespeare took liberties with his historical figures to make points about life in his contemporary world".

I, Joan – Superb debut and a strong ensemble

Though critics differ over the text’s effectiveness, just about everyone lavishes praise on Thom’s performance as Joan. Nick Curtis (Evening Standard, ★★★★) calls this an "astonishing, star-making professional debut" in which they quickly establish "an easy, charming, sometimes flirty rapport" with the audience. Rachel Halliburton (Arts Desk, ★★★★) concurs, identifying Thom as "a clear star in the making", while for Anya Ryan (Guardian, ★★★★) Thom "owns the stage", delivering a performance that’s simply "staggering".

There’s plenty of praise for the rest of the ensemble, too, with Halliburton singling out Debbie Korley’s "stylishly fearsome" Yolande of Aragon. Even Allfree is impressed by conflicted courtier Thomas, a "movingly tormented misfit, played beautifully by Adam Gillen".

Director Ilinca Radulian’s holistic staging "deftly fuses text, music, movement and design" according to Curtis, while Allfree praises the "boisterous, cartoonish pantomime quality" that largely counters any potential preachiness in the text. Ryan is swept up by "rousing, marching dance breaks" while "an onstage band makes each scene feel like we’re preparing for a revolution".

Under Jennifer Jackson’s choreography – which Marlowe calls "punchy, strutting, adrenalised" – performers scramble over Naomi Kuyck-Cohen’s striking set. Curtis describes it as being like "something out of a skate park – a stage-wide slide of laminated wood the actors swish down or clamber up".

I, Joan – The verdict

Newcomer Thom gives a star-making turn in their brilliant professional debut, carrying the play with a charming and ebullient performance as a re-imagined – or perhaps reclaimed, depending on your point of view – non-binary Joan.

Director Radulian and choreographer Jackson give the show a punchy, energetic and entertaining staging that supports Josephine’s sprawling and surprising, though sometimes heavy-handed, script. For some critics, there’s a sense that the epic scale and grand themes entailed in the story aren’t matched by dramatic depth.

These qualms are reflected in a wide spread of ratings. But a tranche of five-star reviews indicates that I, Joan is a deeply personal piece with real resonance and power for some.