PYGMALION by George Barnard Shaw
Directed by Florence McFarlane
Auditions 29 March
Muritai School Hall 1pm to 5pm.
Phone Florence McFarlane (Director) on 5628116 to book a time.
Familiarise yourself by reading the script on line and/or watching a film of the play. – (There are dozens of online scripts available).
Please prepare a speech; it doesn’t have to be memorised.
Rehearsals Tuesday Thursday 7:30pm & Sundays 1pm starting April 20th
Performances: July 2 3 4 9 10 11 7:30pm and a Matinee on 5th
Cast:
Eliza Doolittle – a feisty young girl with a strong Cockney accent which transforms into perfectly enunciated upper class English
Professor Henry Higgins –a speech coach with a casual attitude to everything except correct pronunciation. At least ten years older than Eliza. Upper class English speech throughout. Seems to have no feelings.
Colonel Pickering – kindly moneyed companion to Prof Higgins. Ex Indian Army – well educated with brisk speech – possibly a Noel Coward clipped delivery. Older man – retired.
Mrs Pearce – middle aged or older. Kind housekeeper. Well spoken but working class.
Mrs Higgins – upper class English. Well spoken mother to the professor. Puts up with her son but is not above pulling him into line. Sympathetic to Eliza.
Doolittle – Eliza’s father; Cockney throughout.
Mrs Eynsford-Hill – upper class mother to Freddy and his sister; friend of Mrs Higgins.
Freddy Eynsford-Hill – young upper class twit in love with Eliza; witters on.
Clara Eynsfortd-Hill – young upper class gel.
Parlour Maid – working class
Bystander – cockney
Director’s notes
My first experience of the play was as a nine year old being taken to see it performed at the Opera House. I knew there must have been something terribly scandalous about the play because at one point a pair of hands pinned themselves to my ears as Eliza was speaking.
First staged in 1914 and written by George Bernard Shaw, Pygmalion was a runaway success that was later developed into the musical “My Fair Lady”.
The play mocks the attitude of the time that it didn’t matter what you did as long as you spoke well and didn’t frighten the horses. Good speech was essential to success and it didn’t really matter what you actually said.
Eliza spies the well presented Professor Higgins awaiting a taxi outside the Covent Garden Opera House as he is noting in his diary the speech patterns of the street sellers. At first she takes umbrage at this impertinence but soon sees the opportunity to better herself and presents herself at his door asking to be taken on as a speech student.
Once agreed via a bet between the Professor and the Colonel she is whisked away by Mrs Pearce to be scrubbed and fumigated.
Many marbles and harsh lessons later Eliza is presented to the public with the help of Mrs Higgins.
Freddy Eynsford-Hill falls hopelessly in love with her while her father finds himself to be a sought after philosopher on the lecture circuit.
After her triumph at a ball Eliza must decide what she will do with her life:
Run a hat shop? Be a skivvy to the Professor? Marry Freddy?