The classic play Pygmalion, which the musical My Fair Lady was based, is coming to Theatre NorthWest as a stage reading.
Earlier this fall, the Prince George organization invited local artists to produce stage readings, which are a standard tool for new play development and easily adaptable for COVID-19 friendly theatre.
“This has been a really exciting way for our community to re-engage with live theatre in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Marnie Hamagami, Executive Director of Theatre NorthWest.
The artists are mainly seated and separate from each other, and with lower production and rehearsal costs, the audience limits mean the shows are possible.
Hamagami says stage readings are a familiar tool in the theatre world.
“Play reading is a tool that is often used in new play development,” says Hamagami. “The playwright will hire a director and a cast and bring in an audience and it helps the playwright to see where dialogue works and where it doesn’t.”
Theatre NorthWest’s next stage reading is Pygmalion, which ‘My Fairy Lady’ was based on. This month also marks the 70th anniversary of playwright George Bernard Shaw’s death #cityofpg @theatrenwpg pic.twitter.com/dNeL36Yya0
— Hanna Petersen (@hannaepeter) November 3, 2020
The Pygmalion stage reading will feature seven actors doing 12 characters and it’s directed by Robin Norman.
“It’s a chance to do something and a chance to bring something to life,” says Norman.
“For me Pygmalion is such a fabulous show that has endured for so long — I’m looking for something we can celebrate, something we can enjoy and something we can be enthusiastic about.”
Norman says it’s also perfect timing to present the stage reading of Pygmalion because this November marks the 70th anniversary of playwright George Bernard Shaw’s death.
“The play has endured for more than 100 years now and is still being mounted on a regular basis.”
It was first presented on stage to the public in 1913 and remains one of Shaw’s most popular plays.
It was named after a Greek mythological figure, Pygmalion, who was a popular subject for Victorian-era British playwrights, but tells the story of two old gentlemen who meet in the rain one night at Covent Garden.
Professor Higgins is a scientist of phonetics, and Colonel Pickering is a linguist of Indian dialects.
The first bets the other that he can, with his knowledge of phonetics, convince high London society that he will be able to transform the cockney speaking Eliza Doolittle, into a woman as poised and well-spoken as a duchess
The play’s widest audiences know it as the inspiration for the 1956 musical and 1964 film My Fair Lady.
“In addition to being enthusiastically embraced by your audience despite only 50 people in the space the artists are really pleased to be back on stage,” says Hagamagi about the upcoming stage reading.
The stage reading takes place Saturday (Nov. 7) and tickets are available via Theatre NorthWest's website.
