A review of Pygmalion

The Friends of the Arts will be presenting the musical, My Fair Lady, on two successive weekends in the spring. This is the musical adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion. Shaw was interested in exploring the power divide between the rich and the poor as well as the differences between accents and ideas of the different social classes. The following is a condensed explanation of Acts I through V of the play, Pygmalion, and will appear on four successive Fridays before the musical is presented at the Multi-Purpose Center on Beach Road. The first part was published on March 20, 2009.

The next day at 11am Higgins and Pickering are at Higgins’s place on Wimpole Street. They are just breaking for lunch when Mrs. Pearce, the housekeeper, shows Liza in. She looks a little better than she did the night before and has arrived in a cab. She wants to take language lessons from Higgins. She offers to pay him some of the money back that he gave her the night before. Ultimately, she would like to have her own flower shop and needs to be able to speak in a more genteel manner.

Higgins is intrigued, especially, after Pickering bets him that he could not pass her off as a lady at the Ambassador’s Ball in six months. After much arguing between Mrs. Pearce, who didn’t feel that it would be correct to have Liza live in the house with two men, they come to an agreement that she will live there, study and learn and Higgins will set her up in a flower shop when she has accomplished her goal.

Pickering is concerned about Liza’s reputation as is Liza’s father, Alfred, who shows up and demands that his daughter come home. Ultimately, Higgins learns that Alfred is only concerned about getting some money from Higgins. Higgins provides Alfred with enough money to entertain his “missus” and get married if he want to do so. Alfred is happy with this and goes his merry way.

A few months later, after studying very hard, Eliza is presented to Henry Higgins’ mother, against her wishes, but Henry explains that he wants to try out Eliza’s accent on some of her high society friends. Surprisingly, some of those friends are Freddie, his mother and sister Clara from the Covent Gardens scene in Act I.

No one recognizes Eliza and Freddie immediately falls in love with her. Henry’s mother scolds her son and Mr. Pickering because she feels that no amount of education will change Eliza’s background. She also does not approve of Eliza living at Henry’s home. She also feels that Henry and Pickering are treating Eliza like a “live doll.”

Both men feel that they take Eliza seriously and are very proud of themselves, even though it is Eliza’s ear for accents that has allowed her to progress so far.

Next week, we will find that the relationship between Eliza and Henry Higgins has warmed considerably, but is still on rocky ground.[B][I](Sylvia Haywood)[/I][/B] [I] Sylvia Haywood is the publicity chairman for the Friends of the Arts.[/I] [B][I]To be continued next Friday.[/I][/B]