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George Bernard Shaw - or Bernard Shaw, as he preferred to be known - was one of Ireland's foremost dramatists and thinkers. His plays range from contemporary satires to historical allegories, and are infused with ideas, insight, wit and wisdom. Included here are some of his best works, adapted for radio and brought together in reverse chronological order in one statement collection.

This is an essay providing an extended analysis of the works of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen and of Ibsen's critical reception in England. Shaw uses this "exposition of Ibsenism" to illustrate the imperfections of British society, using the idea of an imaginary "community of a thousand persons," divided into three categories: Philistines, Idealists, and the lone Realist. The main discussion revolves around Ibsen's recurring topic of the strong character holding out against social hypocrisy, while stating in his essay's final sentence that the quintessence of Ibsenism is that "there is no ...

When Vivie learns that her mother's harlotry is the origin of her financial support, nothing in her world can ever be the same. There are serious consequences for her suitor, her mother, and herself.

Fanny who is the daughter of a Count has written a play. Having hired professional actors and invited some major critics. She is keeping her authorship private and she fears her father will not approve as he hates the vulgarity of modern life. - Summary by Michele Eaton Cast list: Count O'Dowda: Adrian Stephens Bannal: Agnes Robert Behr Gunn/Critic: Alan Mapstone Juggins: Beeswaxcandle Margaret: Christine Longhelt Stage Directions: czandra Trotter/Critic: Larry Wilson Fanny: Stacey Malcolm Savoyard: HelloCentral Vaughan/Critic: redrun Footman: James R. Hedrick Mrs Gilbey: Victoria Scrimer ...

George Bernard Shaw is een muziekcriticus, toneelschrijver, essayist, speelt Ierse auteur en scenarist. Vernietigende en provocerend, pacifist en non-conformistische, won hij de Nobelprijs voor de Literatuur in 1925. Deze 100 citaties doel om de toegang tot zijn monumentale werk van een selectie van zijn belangrijkste gedachten in een formaat dat voor iedereen toegankelijk te bieden.

Saint Joan is a play by George Bernard Shaw about 15th-century French military figure Joan of Arc. Premiering in 1923, three years after her canonization by the Roman Catholic Church, the play reflects Shaw's belief that the people involved in Joan's trial acted according to what they thought was right. He wrote in his preface to the play: “There are no villains in the piece. Crime, like disease, is not interesting: it is something to be done away with by general consent, and that is all [there is] about it. It is what men do at their best, with good intentions, and what normal men and women...

Eight of George Bernard Shaw's most memorable plays in one splendid collection: Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Arms and the Man, Candida, The Devil’s Disciple, Major Barbara, The Doctor’s Dilemma, Misalliance, and Pygmalion.

The Doctor's Dilemma is about Dr. Colenso Ridgeon, who has recently been knighted because of a miraculous new treatment he developed for tuberculosis. As his friends arrive to congratulate him on his success, he is visited by two figures who present him with a difficult decision. He has room for one more patient in his clinic; should he give it to Louis Dubedat, a brilliant but absolutely immoral artist, or Dr. Blenkinsop, a poor and rather ordinary physician who is a truly good person? Dr. Ridgeon's dilemma is heightened when he falls for Jennifer Dubedat, the artist's wife, who is innocent ...

A new version of this classic starring Stephen Fry. A chance encounter leads to flower girl Eliza Dootlittle undergoing a life changing transformation.

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.

George Bernard Shaw has been called the second greatest playwright in English (after William Shakespeare) and one of the inventors of modern celebrity as the most famous public intellectual of his time. Beginning in the 1880s, as a critic and as a playwright, he transformed British drama, bringing to it intellectual substance, ethical imperatives, and modernity itself, setting the theatrical course for the subsequent century. That his legacy endures 70 years after his death is testament to the prescience of his thinking and his prolific creativity. 

This podcast delves into the intriguing friendship and intellectual sparring between George Bernard Shaw and G.K. Chesterton. Despite their contrasting beliefs, the two maintained a mutual respect and fascination for each others ideas. The podcast explores how Shaw, a prominent figure in the emerging school of thought known as humanism, championed progress for its own sake, even if it meant redefining the nature of humanity. Chesterton, in contrast, was more inclined towards religious thought, with his views leaning more and more towards the Church. This podcast offers a fascinating insight ...

This witty masterpiece combines high comedy with social commentary as it deflates romantic misconceptions of love and warfare. First produced on the London stage in 1894, Arms and the Man is one of the most frequently acted and studied of Shaw's plays.

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

According to George Bernard Shaw, Joan of Arc was in fact one of the first Protestant martyrs. She was one of the first apostles of nationalism, and the first French practitioner of Napoleonic realism in warfare. She also refused to accept the specific woman's lot, and dressed and fought and lived as men did. Shaw's exploration of the story of this ingenuous and eponymous heroine is set in six scenes and an epilogue, which takes place in 1456, when the church cleared Joan of the charge of heresy and condemned her accusers of corruption.

Man and Superman was the first drama to be broadcast on the BBC's Third Programme on October 1st, 1946. To celebrate Radio 3's 50th anniversary, the play was directed by Sir Peter Hall, and preserved for all time in this lush audio dramatisation. 'A comedy and a philosophy', Man and Superman is...

Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw is a comedic play set during the Serbo-Bulgarian War. It follows the story of Raina, a young Bulgarian woman, who shelters a Swiss mercenary soldier named Captain Bluntschli. Unlike the romanticized ideals of war that Raina believes in, Bluntschli is practical, preferring food over bullets and questioning the glory of battle. As Raina's idealistic views are challenged, the play humorously critiques the absurdity of romanticized heroism and war. Meanwhile, a love triangle develops between Raina, her fiancé Sergius, and Bluntschli, revealing the ...

Barbara is a major in the Salvation Army - but she's also the daughter of Andrew Undershaft, a man who's made millions from the sale of weapons of war. The real battle, however, rages between between the devilish father and his idealistic daughter as they answer the question: does salvation come through faith or finance? This sparkling comedy traverses family relations, religion, ethics and politics - as only Shaw, the master dramatist, can!

The Admirable Bashville is a product of the British law of copyright. As that law stands at present, the first person who patches up a stage version of a novel, however worthless and absurd that version may be, and has it read by himself and a few confederates to another confederate who has paid for admission in a hall licensed for theatrical performances, secures the stage rights of that novel, even as against the author himself; and the author must buy him out before he can touch his own work for the purposes of the stage...As a good Socialist I do not at all object to the limitation of my ...

In Widowers Houses, one of the three thought-provoking plays that make up Shaws Plays Unpleasant published in 1898, the renowned playwright challenges the status quo of Victorian theatre. Rather than simply entertain, Shaw aims to illuminate pressing social issues and critique the exploitation of the working class by the affluent elite. The story follows Dr. Harry Trench, who faces a moral crisis upon learning the unsettling truth about his fiancées father, Mr. Sartorius, and his dubious means of wealth. As the narrative unfolds, it becomes clear that Trenchs own financial situation is ...