First published: 09 Mar 2008

The National Theatre production of George Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan has won its second Laurence Olivier Award of the night, being crowned Best Revival. Saint Joan won in a strong category which also included comedies Boeing Boeing and Dealer’s Choice, Macbeth and The Seagull.

The production starred Best Actress nominee Anne-Marie Duff as the French peasant girl so consumed by her religious belief that she leads the French army to victory before being perceived less as a hero and more as a threat to the status quo. Oliver Ford Davies, Paterson Joseph and Paul Ready also starred.

After accepting the award, director Marianne Elliot commented: "I’m amazed. It’s fantastic. When we first started to do the show, everybody thought that it shouldn’t be in the Olivier [theatre] as nobody would come and see an old George Bernard Shaw, but then I said we should do it in a really radical way and lots of people came to see it and really liked it; it’s amazing. We cut 30 pages, and the George Bernard Shaw Society were a bit worried, but they came to see the show and liked it!”

In Elliott’s revival the setting was given an ‘everyplace’ feel, with costumes ranging from knightly armour to World War II dress, microphones used at the inquisition and a petrified forest of stakes. The suggestion seeming to be that persecution on religious grounds and corruption within the realms of power are not confined to any one period of history and are as relevant now as they have ever been.

Elliott brought her own style to the production with cacophonous battle sequences and choreographed physical theatre playing alongside earnest discussion. This award for Best Revival is the fourth of the night for Elliott’s shows following wins in the Best Theatre Choreography and Best Set Design categories for War Horse.

The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Revival was presented by last year’s Best Actress winner Tamsin Greig, who returns to the London stage this month in God Of Carnage. Greig worked with Elliott on the 2006/07 RSC production of Much Ado About Nothing, for which she won Best Actress at last year's ceremony.

MA