Pygmalion: A brand new BBC Radio 4 drama plus the story of the play's scandalous opening night

Description

A star-studded BBC radio production of Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion – plus bonus drama The ‘B’ Word , telling the story of the play’s scandalous opening night Irascible phonetics professor Henry Higgins makes a bet with his friend Colonel Pickering that he can train Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle to talk ‘like a lady’ and pass as a duchess at the Ambassador’s Ball. As the day of reckoning approaches, can Eliza convince the assembled aristocrats that she’s one of them? And what will become of her afterwards? This effervescent radio version of Shaw’s classic comedy features a stellar cast, including award-winning comedians Alistair McGowan as Henry Higgins, Morgana Robinson as Eliza Doolittle and Al Murray as Alfred Doolittle. Also featured on this release is The ‘B’ Word , written by and starring Alistair McGowan as Bernard Shaw. Centring on the shocking opening night of Pygmalion – the first time that the word ‘bloody' was used on the British stage – it also explores the passionate love-hate relationship between Shaw; his leading man, Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree ( Richard McCabe ) and his leading lady, Mrs Patrick Campbell ( Charlotte Page ), who played the 19-year-old Eliza Doolittle at the age of 49. Cast and credits Pygmalion Henry Higgins…………………… Alistair McGowan Eliza Doolittle…………………… Morgana Robinson Alfred Doolittle…………………… Al Murray Colonel Pickering…………………… Hugh Fraser Mrs Higgins…………………… Siân Phillips Mrs Pearce/Maid…………………… Charlotte Page Mrs Eynsford-Hill…………………… Georgie Glen Clara Eynsford-Hill…………………… Maeve Bluebell Wells Freddy Eynsford-Hill.....…………………… Tom Forrister Nepommuck…………………… David Sturzaker Ambassador…………………… John Dougall Ambassador's wife…………………… Sarah Ridgeway Bystander…………………… David Sterne Written by Bernard Shaw Produced and directed by Emma Harding The ‘B’ Word Bernard Shaw…………………… Alistair McGowan George Alexander…………………… David Sturzaker Mrs Patrick Campbell.....…………………… Charlotte Page Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree…………………… Richard McCabe Charlotte Shaw…………………… Georgie Glen Merivale…………………… Philip Fox Gurney/Fishman…………………… Simon Ludders Bell…………………… Charlie Clements Maid…………………… Sarah Ridgeway Written by Alistair McGowan Produced and directed by Emma Harding Production Coordinator: Jenny Mendez Studio Managers: Alison Craig, Caleb Knightley and Thomas Glasser Duration: 2 hours 45 mins approx. Review: Brilliant story with a fabulous cast - I adore My Fair Lady and for me, Audrey Hepburn is Eliza Doolittle. What I know as the film My Fair Lady forms part of the play by Shaw in which Professor Higgins has a bet that he can teach and train a cockney flower girl to sound, look and act like a lady. That section of the story is a play to be shown and in which a certain “B” word will be used for the first time on stage. I do hope that makes sense! 🤔 So if you like this is a story of two parts. There is the stage play where I got to meet the actors and, it also includes some backstage banter and part the opening night reactions, then there is the play itself with the characters of Eliza and Professor Higgins. Does that make any more sense…I think not!!! 😬😜😀 How about I just tell you about how I found the listening side of it instead of trying to explain the story! This is such a wonderful audio to listen to with a fabulous cast adding the voices to the various characters who bring the story to life. As this is a version that has a full cast it was very easy for me to follow the changes of character. The story of Eliza and her transformation is one I absolutely adore and I was completely addicted to it. As it just over 2 and 1/2 hours long I was able to do some weeding and listen to it easily in one afternoon. This is such a wonderful version to sit and listen to, mesmerising and very addictive. If you are new to listening to plays or audio books then this would be a very good place to start. It is one I would definitely recommend! And then I sat down and watched the film… Review: "I think they have got it!": "PYGMALION" by the BBC - "Pygmalion", as we all know, is the basis for the musical "My Fair Lady." The problem is that, lately, both "Pygmalion" and "My Fair Lady" have fallen victim to "political correctness." One look no further than Bartlett Sher's smug, cold, calculated, misguided, mis-cast, and mis-directed 2018 Lincoln Center revival of "My Fair Lady" to see how dreary and deadly that is. Director Emma Harding restores balance and perspective in this invigorating production of "Pygmalion" by the BBC. First and foremost, Harding remembers that George Bernard Shaw wrote "Pygmalion" as a comedy: an astringent, often scathing social satire of the British social class system. It can even be labeled as "a comedy of bad manners": and the character with the bad manners is snobby Professor Henry Higgins (Alistair McGowan), who tutors the "lower class" flower girl Eliza Doolittle (Morgana Robinson) to become a "society lady." The perspective and balance are achieved by Harding's inspired casting of multi-talented actors who can play both comedy and drama. The wit and grit of the play remain successfully intact. "Pygmalion" is once again lively, engrossing, and entertaining, instead of cold, dreary, and pretentious. Gone is the cold and cruel aura of entitlement from Rex Harrison that stained the character of Henry Higgins for so long that the interpretation became common-place. Alistair McGowan plays Higgins as a 40-something schoolboy. He is impulsive and arrogant, while simultaneously being ignorant and childish. Higgins has more than a thing or two to learn from Eliza. The excellent Morgana Robinson is especially sassy, spirited, strong, and self-aware as Eliza. Al Murray is a hoot as Eliza's hard-drinking dad Alfred Doolittle, who grabs an opportunity for himself out of Eliza's "social advancement." Sian Phillips (from the BBC's unforgettable classic "I, Claudius") as Henry's compassionate and wise mother Mrs. Higgins, perfectly sums up the careless attitude that Higgins and his colleague Colonel Pickering (Hugh Fraser) have towards Eliza when she says, "You two are a pair of pretty babies, playing with your live doll." The BBC production also includes scenes of Eliza's bath shortly after her arrival at Higgins' apartment, Eliza's lessons (yes, she says "The Rain In Spain"...), and Eliza at the garden-party Ball, all of which add extra dimension to the characters and plot. And, in a clever insider's nod to the musical version, in the short scene where Freddy waits outside for Eliza, Tom Forrester drowsily hums a few bars of "On The Street Where You Live" from "My Fair Lady." Alistair McGowan returns as George Bernard Shaw in the short bonus play "The B Word" (on CD 3). "The B Word" is about the controversy caused when Eliza says, "Not Bloody Likely!!" in "Pygmalion."