Showing results by author "Bernard Shaw" in All Categories

To celebrate Radio 3's 50th anniversary, Man and Superman was directed by Sir Peter Hall, and preserved for all time in this lush audio dramatization. "A comedy and a philosophy", Man and Superman is based on the Don Juan theme, and using all the elements from Mozart's Don Giovanni, Shaw reordered them so that Don Juan becomes the quarry instead of the huntsman. Boasting an outstanding cast including Ralph Fiennes, Juliet Stevenson, Dame Judi Dench, John Wood, Nicholas Le Prevost, and Paul Merton.

Bernard Shaw based his "religious pantomime" Androcles and the Lion on the ancient fable of the runaway slave who pulls a painful thorn from a lion's paw, thereby making a lifelong friend. This tale of a puny Greek tailor triumphing over the Roman emperor is, as always with Shaw, a commentary on the politics of his time, with the emperor standing in for the British government and, indeed, all repressive regimes.

Gifted playwright George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan is based on the life and trials of Joan of Arc whose canonisation occurred shortly before he wrote this play. Based on both substantial information of her life in Medieval France and records of her trial, Shaw characterizes this unique woman caught between the forces of the Church and law in this classic production with a strong cast supporting Siobhan McKenna's fine interpretation of this tragic heroine.

George Bernard Shaw's warm and witty play continues to challenge conventional wisdom about male/female relationships. Candida concerns a beautiful married woman's choice between the two men who love her.

Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw is the fascinating tale of Henry Higgins, a professor of speech and phonetics who takes on the task of teaching Eliza Doolittle, a lower-class flower seller, how to "act like a lady".

George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist, and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture, and politics extended from the 1880s to his death and beyond. He wrote more than 60 plays, which included major works such as Man and Superman. Here in this exciting audiobook experience, you will find the very best of George Bernard Shaw’s vibrant personality and inspirational words. A rare audiobook adventure!

A Cockney flower girl is transformed into a charming woman of the world by a professor of phonetics. This is the play that was later to be adapted as the musical, My Fair Lady.

Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion is a witty and thought-provoking play that explores themes of social class, transformation, and the power of language. First performed in 1913, the play remains one of Shaw's most celebrated works, blending comedy with sharp social critique. The story follows Professor Henry Higgins, a phonetics expert, who makes a bet with his friend, Colonel Pickering, that he can transform a poor flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, into a refined lady simply by teaching her proper speech and manners. Eliza, eager to improve her station in life, agrees to the experiment.

Taking place on a single day in May 1909, a self-made millionaire and his family invite their future nobleman-in-law for a visit to their estate in Surrey, England. In this delightfully clever play, issues of gender, class, politics, and family are all targets for Shaw's keen wit.

"One of Shaw's most enduring works, Pygmalion is an insightful comedy of class relations and perceptions, as played out between a Cockney flower girl and the irascible speech professor who has taken her on as a pet project.

George Bernard Shaw embraced the concept of what he called creative evolution. In 1982, after having witnessed the horrors of the First World War, Shaw started work on Back to Methuselah, a large-scale presentation of the story of human development, starting from the Garden of Eden and extended far into the future. The first performance was held in New York in 1922. The five plays included are "In the Beginning", "The Gospel of the Brothers Barnabus", "The Thing Happens", "Tragedy of an Elderly Gentleman", and "As Far As Thought Can Reach".

A Manifesto by the Fabian Society.

Fresh off his victory at The Battle of Lodi, Napoleon is planning to enjoy his lunch when a lieutenant arrives with the bad news that the dispatches he had been carrying were stolen. Infuriated, Napoleon threatens him with being court-martialed unless he can recover them. A woman appears who claims to know about the theft. Unconvinced of her story, Napoleon and the woman enter into a battle of wits in true Shaw style. Will the conqueror of worlds end up conquered by a woman?

Henry Higgins, un profesor de fonética arrogante, apuesta que puede transformar a Eliza Doolittle, una vendedora de flores de baja clase con un acento grueso, en una dama de la alta sociedad mediante el refinamiento de su habla. A medida que Eliza se somete a esta metamorfosis, la obra despliega un agudo comentario sobre las rígidas estructuras de clase y el poder del lenguaje.

Making his way to a tryst with his "dark lady" near the royal palace the young playwright William Shakespeare encounters a mysterious woman in a cloak. Mistaking her for his lady friend, he accosts her in a familiar fashion, only to discover, to his dismay, that she is in fact the queen. He overcomes his initial discomfort, and takes advantage of the situation to make a petition for royal support to establish a national theatre.

The play Don Juan in Hell originated as Act 3, Scene 2, of Man and Superman and is a spirited debate between Heaven and Hell. It was written by Irish playwright and a master of social commentary George Bernard Shaw (1856 – 1950), who is probably most famous for Pygmalion amongst his 60 plays. This famous performance features Charles Boyer as Don Juan, Charles Laughton as the Devil, Cedric Hardwicke as the Commander, and Agnes Moorehead as Doña Ana.

Henry Higgins, a phonetician, agrees to coach and groom Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl and transform her into a socially acceptable person, no less than a duchess - in just six months! Timeless themes of equality and social class are explored in a lighthearted, comical manner, raising many questions such as: Can Eliza "I'm a good girl I am!" live up to their expectations? What will become of her afterwards?

It's amazing how relevant these century-old words of Bernard Shaw's are right now. Just like then nobody understands the concept of socialism, and the fact that any successful democracy is a socialist democracy to some extent.

The Emporor of Rome and the Queen of the Nile as only Shaw could have imagined them! He is a self-doubting cynic who is experiencing a mid-life crisis and she is an imperious and impertinent child on the threshold of womanhood. This recording also includes Shaw's alternate Prologue and his post-text notes.

In this allegorical play, the eccentric Captain Shorover's home hosts a cast, each of whom represents some evil in the modern world.