The next theatrical offering at the theatre-in-the round at St James Cavalier is promising an explosive performance. Not so much because the ambience is that of a battlefield, as much as it is going to present a blast of controversial ideas about a historical heroine who returns to haunt us with her past.

Michael Fenech will be directing Leigh-Anne Abela in The Second Coming of Joan of Arc’ written by the playwright, performer, director, and activist, Carolyn Gage. Her works presents Joan as the heroine who is fighting posthumously to clear her name and her honour.

Joan’s achievements in her limited lifetime are a series of milestones in a warrior’s life. She led an army to victory at 17. At 18, she arranged the coronation of a king. At 19, she went up against the entire Catholic Church . . . and lost. Her trial lasted five months and the testimony by witnesses was carefully transcribed by notaries.

Twenty years after her death, a new trial was authorised and again detailed records were kept. There was testimony by her childhood playmates, by her parents, by the soldiers who served under her, by the priests who confessed her, by those who witnessed and administered her torture. She is the most thoroughly documented figure of the 15th century. So why do the myths about the simple-minded peasant girl still pervade the history books?

Carolyn Gage’s work does away with these myths and present Joan as a defiant and irreverent woman who died for her right to wear men’s clothing. Gage is the author of more than 40 plays, musicals and one-woman shows, specialising in non-traditional roles for women, especially those whose stories have been distorted or erased from history.

Leigh-Anne Abela will be performing the part of Joan of Arc. This role has proved to be a turning point for her as an actress, as she has undergone weeks of rigorous training to meet the demands of the play and of the director. Weeks of physical exercise, to get the physique of a warrior and a nip to the locks to match the masculine look.

This is perhaps one of Michael Fenech’s most challenging theatrical works. Kafka, Brecht and Beckett presented their own challenges in his artistic career, but now the ghost of a 19-year-old heroine is his most challenging task. Joan inspires him as a person who was unrepentant, and unfailingly true to her own visions, matching his own convictions and ideals.

In The Second Coming of Joan of Arc, Joan returns to share her story with a contemporary audience. She tells her experiences with the highest levels of church, state, and military and unmasks the brutal misogyny behind male institutions.

The Second Coming of Joan of Arc is being produced at St James’ Cavalier Centre for Creativity on 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19 February. The play starts at 8pm. Booking open from St James Cavalier (tel: 2122 3216).