Pygmalion and My Fair Lady:

The story of a subversive Transformation

Tuesday 10.30-3.30 pm

Date 12th May

(Dr John Florance)

DAY COURSE £20.00

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Pygmalion (1914) is perhaps Bernard Shaw’s best known play.

This is largely because the great musical My Fair Lady, with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Lowe (1956) is based on the original play and the screenplay Shaw wrote for the 1938 film which starred Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller. Interestingly, the musical transforms the meaning of the original play into something which subverts Shaw’s radical vision. ( This is not to diminish the genius of the musical which is a masterpiece.) But it does beg the question why and how this is the case.
We will be looking at the play and it’s original production (a story in itself!), the pre war film and how Lerner and Lowe came to write a musical which, given the nature of Shaw’s play, many thought was impossible.
This story is fascinating and very entertaining. Whether you like musicals ( or indeed Bernard Shaw) or not this is a course for you.

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