Straight Shaw
R. SHAW was fortunate in being born at the right time, in casting his intellectual bread upon the waters at a period when audiences were prepared to swallow didacticism with their drama. And I think he was also fortunate. in living well into the age of radio. For as I listened to Man of Destiny last Friday I thought how delighted Mr. Shaw would have been at the sight of so many earnest drinkersin of the undiluted word. For G.B.S. was neVer one to delight in the dramatic trappings which are the perquisite of the theatre-goer. Immaterial to him whether his characters are true to life, provided they are true to their creator. When we see Man of Destiny upon the stage we are perhaps inclined to question the historical truth of this particular montage of the Napoleonic legend. The figure is obviously Napoleon’sthere is the uniform, the stance, the gestures to prove it-and the incongruity between the Napoleonic shell and the Shavian kernel distracts us. Moreover, in the stage presentation we can escape the tyranny of Shaw’s idealogical brilliance by distracting ourselves with the Lady’s changes of attire, appearance, and_ reappearance. But a radio audience Mr. Shaw has just where he wants it-we listen and like it,
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 17, Issue 432, 3 October 1947, Page 8
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210Straight Shaw New Zealand Listener, Volume 17, Issue 432, 3 October 1947, Page 8
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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