G. B. S. Rides His Favourite Hobby-Horse

Northern Advocate, 8 January 1938, Page 7

G. B. S. Rides His Favourite Hobby-Horse

(Received 2.0 p.m.) LONDON, January 7,

A message in his characteristic cop-per-plate shorthand, sent to the Association of Teachers of Speech and Drama, shows that George Bernard Shaw continues to ride his favourite hobby-horse of accurate pronunciation which he first enlarged in “Galatea.”

“Your dramatic work,” G.B.S. told the association, “does not interest me in the slightest. All professions speak better English than does your.

“Murdered The Liturgy,”

“The clergy half a century ago murdered the liturgy so scandalously that I protested against the ordination of a candidate for Holy Orders until he knew the difference between a collect and a gargle. “Our own technically perfect speaker then was Queen Victoria, whom seme of our stage gabblers would probably describe as a ‘ham.’ Telephone Girls Wonderful, “The Elocutionist Church to-day has some of the best broadcasters, notably the Archibishops of Canterbury and York, the Vicar of Tewkesbury, and the Rev. Pat. MacCormick. Although political ‘tub-thumpers’ may talk nonsense, they are at least articulate.

Clearly, our telephone girls are wonderful, not only efficient hut peremptory and terrifying.

“The theatre alone provides a slovenly speech, conveying nothing to its audience and stultifying the author’s work. This is due to distractions caused by other theatrical arts —namely. lighting, colouring, dressing and fashions. Thus, there is no time for the central art of speech on which all ‘brainy’ plays depend.”