Review: 'Pygmalion'

Think of it as My Fair Lady without the songs.

Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion – the current offering from Stage Centre Productions at Fairview Library Theatre – not only served as the basis for the celebrated Broadway musical, but also remains one of his most frequently staged plays. The characters are so rich, and the situation afforded Shaw a chance to study the contrasts between the classes, a favourite theme.

The original Greek story that inspired the play tells of a sculptor who forms his ideal woman out of a piece of ivory, falls in love with his creation and prays to Venus to have the statue brought to life. In Shaw’s version, the creator becomes unhappy when his perfect creation develops a will of her own. 

L.Garth Allen’s production explores all the subtleties of Shaw’s text and delivers plenty of laughs along the way. With Paul Love the director has a younger Higgins than usual, and it works to the play’s advantage. Higgins should not come off as being old enough to be Eliza’s father, and in this case he and Sara VanBuskirk as Eliza spar with just a slight hint of sexual tension in the play’s final scenes. Shaw insisted that the play was not a love story, and the actors take that literally, never displaying any romantic notions.

They are joined on stage by Bob Martyn as a grandfatherly Colonel Pickering, and Roger Kell as Alfred P. Doolittle, a common dustman given to musing about middle class morality. Kell’s scenes are so good it’s a shame we don’t see more of this character in the play.

Christine Edmonds as Mrs. Higgins balances tenderness for Eliza and unyielding reproachment for her son’s careless ways in a performance that seems as if coached by the author. The upper crust characters looked particularly fine in costumes that are very much of the early 20^th century. They looked good and fit well, giving the performers that stiff posture that seems so much a part of the upper middle class.

The set design ingeniously allowed the pillars representing the front of Covent Garden to become in interior columns in Higgins’ study. The transitions between the acts were a little long, but nicely choreographed to excerpts from William Walton’s Façade Suite, which seem appropriate to the time and locale.

Shaw’s love of language is what has always driven this particular play and many of the speeches he gives to the characters are comic gems. There are also a number of very funny exchanges allowing this talented troupe to play off of each other. For those seeking an entertaining piece with some literate writing you need look no further.

This is yet another shining example of what Stage Centre Productions does best.

Pygmalion plays at Fairview Library Theatre, 35 Fairview Mall Drive, until January 30. For tickets or performance schedule visit www.stagecentreproductions.com or call the box office at 416-299-5557.