SHAW AMONG THE PHONETICIANS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22368, 15 September 1934, Page 7

SHAW AMONG THE PHONETICIANS

By C. R. Allen.-

“ PYGMALION “ BY THE DUNEDIN REPERTORY SOCIETY

Readers of the “ unauthorised biography ” of Bernard Shaw ’ by, Frank Harris will recall that Shaw at one tithe travelled London in the interests of the Bell Telephone Company. In the expositionary matter that accompanies the text of “ Pygmalion ” Bernard Shaw presents a little pen portrait of Alexander Melville Bell, the inventor of invisible speech, whose son put the telephone bn the market. Bell, Tito Pagliardiui and Henry Sweet seem to have been three phoneticians who suggested to Shaw the portrait of the professor of phonetics in “ Pygmalion.” The late poet laureate, Robert Bridges, may also have a share in this composite portrait, though Henry Sweet, the opponent of Pitman’s, no doubt predominates. “ Pygmalion ” was produced at his Majesty’s Theatre by Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree. It is, therefore, one of the few Shavian plays tvhich might be described as a “popular success.” The production by the Dunedin Repertory Society of “ Pygmalion ” will tax that body’s resources. There are three changes of scene, the first involving the appearance of a taxi in the vicinity of St. Paul’s Cathedral. Rehearsals are well in hand, and the players chosen seem to be at home in what is a new milieu for this society. Especially is this the case with Miss Jolly, who is cast, for the part created by Mrs Patrick Campbell, that of ’Liza Dolittle, It is not too much to say that if Miss Jolly fulfils the promise she gives at rehearsals a very convincing and, in places, touching performance will be witnessed by those who attend this brilliant play of Shaw’s. It may be difficult to believe that phonetics could supply the motif for anything but a treatise. “ Pygmalion ” proves it to be otherwise. There are passages towards the close of the play which recall John Tanner and the predatory woman in “ Man and Superman.” ’Liza Dolittle, however, appeals more to our chivalry than does the lady with the feather boa in Shaw’s chef d’ouvre. Miss Jolly has entered into the very being of the flower girl who wants to talk like a lady. What there is of artificiality in the part must be laid at the door of the author. The metamorphosis is not always unerringly indicated. Mr Ken Palmer finds himself at issue with one of those titanic Shavian parts. As the professor of phonetics, Higgins, he has to talk almost from curtain to curtain in each scene. He has to stand up to, the assault and battery of ’Liza, who throws his slippers at him. There is a tradition relative to the original production that Mrs Campbell’s manipulation of the slippers in this scene was so. willing that Beerbohm Tree suffered from premonitory neurasthenia. The humour of “ Pygmalion ” is tinged with Shavian extravagance. •An excellent exponent of ’Liza’s father has been found, and in the hands of this player this eloquent member of the ranks of the “ undeserving ” should elicit the loud laugh that does not speak the vacant mind. Mr Dolittle is a thinking man, as he is careful to remind the professor, and his philosophy is certainly provocative of thought. In a , written impression such as this it is not desirable to be too specific as to the members of the cast. It must suffice to say that both Mrs Wakefield Holmes and Mr Gair are provided with congenial parts, and that the good lines entrusted to the professor’s housekeeper will he delivered with pith and point. “Pygmalion” should rank as. one of the best productions by the Dunedin Repertory Society, which appears to go from strength to strength,