Pygmalion

Jodi and I review the new production of Pygmalion at the Old Vic in London. Pygmalion is arguably George Bernard Shaw’s most famous play, partly of course because it spawned the even-more famous musical and film My Fair Lady. The play offers two iconic parts in Eliza and Higgins, played famously in the film by Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison. The Old Vic production boasts two of the most respected stage actors of our time in Patsy Ferran, fresh from her Olivier-winning run as Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire, and Bertie Carvel, who has conjured the figures of Donald Trump and Rupert Murdoch no less on stage, not to mention Miss Trunchbull in Matilda the Musical. Shaw’s biographer, Michael Holroyd, describes Pygmalion as “a comedy of manners and a parable of socialism.” Written more than 100 years ago, does this revival convince us that the play stands the test of time?