PYGMALION to Play Marlowe Theatre Next Month

ALISTAIR McGowan stars in a major revival of one the best-loved plays of the 20th century at The Marlowe Theatre early next month (June).

Pygmalion, Bernard Shaw's enduring masterpiece, is in its centenary year. It is one of theatre's most entertaining and beguiling explorations of gender and class and is perhaps best known as the inspiration for the musical My Fair Lady.

The aristocratic and pompous Professor Henry Higgins (made famous by Rex Harrison) makes a bet with his friend Colonel Pickering that he can transform the manners and speech of Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle and pass her off as a society lady. Packed with a host of larger than life characters, including Alfred Doolittle and lovelorn Freddy Eynsford-Hill, Pygmalion remains one of Shaw's most popular plays and a classic British drama; full of his trademark wit, style and humour.

Higgins will be played by McGowan, who is regarded as one of the most talented people working in entertainment today. An impressionist, comic and writer, he has established himself as a formidable actor in recent years receiving critical acclaim for several West End appearances, including Little Shop of Horrors, for which he received an Olivier Award nomination.