Review of PYGMALION

By Olivia Tjon-A-Meeuw

At no point in George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion does the title character actually show up. But that does not really matter anyway, because we all know him as the mythical man who literally made himself the perfect woman. A scenario that nowadays we might call problematic. Yet, Professor Higgins (Stephen Connery-Brown) follows in his footsteps in Shaw’s play, and the production by TNT Theatre and The American Drama Group Europe  shown at Theater Winterthur does little to mitigate concerns over such a practice. 

Professor Higgins meets flower girl Eliza Doolittle (Katherine Lunney) on the street and is fascinated by her accent and revulsed by her manners. When Eliza shows up at his doorstep the next day, wishing to be taught to speak „properly“, so she can work at a flower shop, Higgins cannot resist this chance. He and his friend Colonel Pickering (Mark Denham) want to transform her entirely, so she will pass as a lady at the Queen’s ball. 

The production is firmly leaning towards the slapstick end of the spectrum. The audience is expected to laugh at funny walking or a man in a dress (Clark Alexander, taking on the role of Mrs Eynsford), simply at characters that threaten to veer into caricature. Most of all, however, it is expected to laugh at Eliza with her shrill laughter, her swearing and general lack of knowledge about middle-class manners. This makes the audience complicit in the disregard that is shown to her by the male figures around her, from the Professor to her father.

The play itself course-corrects somewhat towards the end, when Eliza stands up for herself and demands respect. That this only happens once she has been essentially transformed into a different — and in the eyes of the men around her, superior — person, makes this somewhat questionable. This, however, is part and parcel of the play. 

Most cast members, apart from Connery-Brown and Lunney, are pulling double or even triple duty on stage. Maeve Leahy is the most successful as Mrs Higgins and Mrs Pearce, two roles that are not miles apart, but which she plays with confidence and at least some restraint. 

It was one night only for Pygmalion at Theater Winterthur, but let’s hope the TNT’s next  regular visit to this theatre will be more successful. 

For more information on English plays at Theater Winterthur, visit: http://theater.winterthur.ch/spielplan/gesamter-spielplan.html