BERNARD SHAW

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21242, 12 October 1940, Page 13 (Supplement)

BERNARD SHAW

SOME MORE CORRESPONDENCE HAMILTONIAN’S VIEWS Another letter called forth by my remarks that much of Bernard Shaw’s work is boring and “dated” came to hand this week. Here it is, cut a little owing to the exigencies of space but with, I think, all the points the writer wishes to make remaining:— “Sir, —I had not intended to enter any controversy concerning the merits of Shaw, because I was well aware of the fact that though in England the great playwright’s genius is known and recognised, in New Zealand there is so much prejudice against Shaw the Man that Shaw the Playwright is very often ignored, passed over, or intentionally misunderstood. However, the attitude of your dramatic critic has prompted me to pen a few facts relevant to the case. It appears that he has an entirely wrong idea of the ‘dating’ of a play. To him a play is ‘dated’ merely if the dress, the dialogue and (or) the situations are not of the present day. He fails to see that great plays ‘live’ because of the brilliance of their literary style, the fine construction of their plots, the beauty and lucidity of their language, the purpose which the authors have and the points which they drive home. “I would not call ‘You Never Can Tell’ a great play, but it is a tribute to the brilliance of the author and his work that when it was played in Hamilton, with the dialogue exactly as written, it was a great success. I doubt whether there were any who realised, had they been unaware of the fact previously, that the play was written 45 years ago (1895). Your critic states that a Victorian setting would have brought out its points to the full. If Shakespeare’s ‘Merchant of Venice’ were staged in modern dress, I would, I feel sure, say the same, without, however, mentioning that much of Shakespeare was ‘dated.’ “With reference to the mention on the Playbox programme of the play, that ‘many critics consider Shaw as the greatest English playwright since Shakespeare,’ this fact is regarded by the best authorities as indubitable and many books have been written on the subject. I might mention that Shaw was, in 1926, awarded the Nobel Prize for literature and, to date, has written approximately 40 full-length plays, which are already regarded as classics. By common agreement G. Bernard Shaw is, after 65 years of writing, still the greatest English dramatist. He was in 1900, he is to-

day. If any doubt this, let them read his last three plays, ‘The Millionaires,’ ‘Geneva’ and ‘King Charles,’ and try to find another playwright of his years with the same vigour, punch, zest and wit. Truly an outstanding figure, a renowned thinker, and a great playwright.—l am,

DRAMATIC STUDENT I can only say that “Dramatic Student’s” letter, like that of “H.S.” last week, has not caused me to change my opinion in any way. As I said last week no one has attempted to deny Shaw‘s brilliance, but to treat everything he says and writes as a pearl of wit or wisdom, as so many people do, is merely absurd. To compare Shaw with Shakespeare is equally absurd—almost irreverent ! Shakespeare dealt with the great fundamentals; Shaw often merely seems to be trying to get a “hit” at the established order of things at the time at which he writes (definitely “dated”). “Dramatic Student” is quite wrong, of course, when he attempts to define my attitude to “dated” plays. A play is “dated” when it requires a certain setting to put over its message, and “You Never Can Tell” was a good illustration of this, for,- enjoyable as it undoubtedly was, it would have gained tremendously if given a Victorian setting; the family’s breaking away from convention would have had infinitely more point.

And New Zealanders, despite what “Dramatic Student” says, are just as capable as English people of summing up the merits and demerits of Shaw’s work—perhaps eve* more, because they are not so much startled at his knocks (often rather “cheap”) at the established order of things. Now shall we say good-bye to Bernard Shaw for a while!