“Pygmalion ”

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 212, 26 November 1927, Page 24 (Supplement)

“Pygmalion ”

Shaw Dislikes Happy Endings The great G.B.S. has no time for happy endings. “Pygmalion,” which is to be performed by the Auckland Little Theatre Society shortly, is a splendid example of this. Shaw describes “Pygmalion” as a romance, and in no uncertain manner he shows his contempt for writers who stoop to the cheap habit of making their heroes and heroines “live happily ever after.” “Pygmalion” ends rather abruptly and leaves one in doubt as to the destiny of Liza and Higgins. As usual Shaw deals at length with his work in a prologue and a sequel. He says: “The rest of the story need not be shown in action. It would hardly need telling if our imaginations were not so enfeebled by their lazy dependence on the ready-mades and reach-me-downs of the rag-shop in which romance keeps its stock of “Happy endings” to misfit all stories. “Eliza, in telling Higgins she would not marry him if he asked her, was not coquetting. She was announcing a well-considered decision. Her instinct tells her not to marry, but it does not tell her to give him up.” And that is precisely what happened. She still managed to meddle in the Higgins’s household, but she married Freddie —you see. “Galatea never really did like Pygmalion —his relation was altogether too God-like to be agreeable.” Madge Mclntosh, who recently returned to Australia from England, lias been engaged for "The Ghost Train.” This will be revived at the Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne, after “The Last Warning” finishes its run early in December. Miss Mclntosh will play the role in which Hetty Koss Clarke appeared.

Advice has been received by J. C. Williamson, Ltd. that Leon Gordon, who will return to Australia next year to appear again under the firm’s management, will play in a Broadway (New York) theatre in “The Desperado.” He will take the part of a sinister Mexican bandit, with a keen sense of humour. Guy Bates Post appeared in Melbourne in a comedy called “The Bad Man,” in which the principal character was similar to that in “The Desperado.” It is said that the production of “The Desperado” was postponed until the return of Mr. Gordon from Australia. Mr. Gordon, it is also announced, has arranged for the production of one of his own plays, “Tin Soldiers,” which he wrote while in Australia. Gladys Moncrieff, the J.C.W. star who has often visited New Zealand, is playing in “Rio Rita,” Ziegfield’s spectacular New York production, which

The production of “The Student Prince” in Melbourne is admirable, recalling the lavishness of stage settings when J. C. Williamson was alive. It is refreshing to hear the male choruses —not a mere handful of badly-trained young men gabbling their words—but a chorus, 40 strong, of trained singers, working in perfect unison with the orchestra, and—need one add —almost bringing the audience out of the seats with enthusiasm. The scenery is in keeping with the casting. The rich hangings and drapings in the throneroom scene are gorgeous, forming a brilliant background for the splendid uniforms and dresses. In this chamber is danced a gavotte, which gives evidence of much careful schooling by Minnie Hooper, the ballet mistress, and the thorough drilling of the soldiers is reflected in the ceremonial marches and saluting of the young king. The setting at the inn of the Three Golden Apples affords a realistic glimpse of the river winding through the Rhineland Valley. with quaint old drinking benches outside the gabled inn.