Shaw's Rarely Done Disciple

The Devil's Disciple, a little known play by George Bernard Shaw has been brought to the stage at Theatre Three in Dallas. 

The rarely staged play is a charming send-up to Shaw, including Terry Vandivort, who appears, as Shaw, at the beginning of each act to announce stage directions and side comments on his critics. According to Shaw Britain lost control over the colonies due to British military bureaucracy.

Disciple creates a romantic love triangle involving a wealthy loafer named Richard Dudgeon (Ashley Wood), Presbyterian minister Anthony Anderson (David Brown) and Anderson's wife, Judith (Lynn Blackburn).

Dudgeon is arrested, being mistaken for the rebellious Anderson. Dudgeon could hang unless his true identity can be revealed. The only one who has this power is Judith.

And Judith? Well, she can't decide who should get hanged, Dudgeon or her husband. The fate of a life rests in her indecisive hands.

The play starts slowly, but picks up speed by the second act driven by Shaw's humor. Written in 1897, Disciple was the first to make Shaw any form of income. According to historians, the play is a recounting of the stupidity of the Redcoats during the Revolutionary War.