Oliver Ford Davies and Anne-Marie Duff, who recently appeared together in The Soldiers' Fortune at the Young Vic, are to work together again this year in the National Theatre's production of Saint Joan. Also cast in Marianne Elliot's new production of George Bernard Shaw's play are Paterson Joseph, Angus Wright and Paul Ready.
Ford Davies, who plays the Inquisitor, played Sir Davy Dunce in The Soldiers' Fortune; the cruel, controlling husband of want-away Lady Dunce, played by Duff. Widely respected both on stage and screen, he was given the Laurence Olivier Award for Actor Of The Year in 1990 for his performance in Racing Demon, and was nominated for Best Performance In A Supporting Role in 2004 for Absolutely! (Perhaps). On film he has appeared in Sense And Sensibility, Mrs Dalloway and played Sio Bibble in Star Wars Episodes I and II.
Joseph, who plays Cauchon, is a familiar television face. A former regular on hospital drama Casualty, he has also been seen in Peep Show, Green Wing and William And Mary. He has also worked extensively in theatre. At the National has previously been seen in Royal Hunt Of The Sun, Elmina's Kitchen, Whale and The Recruiting Officer. Elsewhere his credits include Othello, A Doll's House, Hamlet, King Lear and Les Blancs, for which he won the Barclays TMA Award for Best Actor in 2001.
Warwick is played by Wright, who is a regular at the National Theatre. Among his previous credits are The Seagull, Stuff Happens, Measure For Measure and Three Sisters. He has also worked with the RSC, the Almeida and Complicite.
Ready, who plays the Dauphin, is currently starring in the National's production of Attempts On Her Life. Previously he starred in the National's production of Waves and in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest in the West End.
Saint Joan is widely considered to be one of Shaw's greatest plays. It follows the life, trial and death of Joan of Arc who was burnt at the stake for heresy in 1431.
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