A star-studded BBC radio production of Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion - plus bonus drama The 'B' Word, telling the story of the play's scandalous opening night.
Irascible phonetics professor Henry Higgins makes a bet with his friend Colonel Pickering that he can train Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle to talk 'like a lady' and pass as a duchess at the Ambassador's Ball. As the day of reckoning approaches, can Eliza convince the assembled aristocrats that she's one of them? And what will become of her afterwards?
This effervescent radio version of Shaw's classic comedy features a stellar cast, including award-winning comedians Alistair McGowan as Henry Higgins, Morgana Robinson as Eliza Doolittle and Al Murray as Alfred Doolittle.
Also featured on this release is The 'B' Word, written by and starring Alistair McGowan as Bernard Shaw. Centring on the shocking opening night of Pygmalion - the first time that the word 'bloody was used on the British stage - it also explores the passionate love-hate relationship between Shaw; his leading man, Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and his leading lady, Mrs Patrick Campbell, who played the 19-year-old Eliza Doolittle at the age of 49.
Cast and credits
Pygmalion
Henry Higgins........................Alistair McGowan
Eliza Doolittle........................Morgana Robinson
Alfred Doolittle........................Al Murray
Colonel Pickering........................Hugh Fraser
Mrs Higgins........................Siân Phillips
Mrs Pearce/Maid........................Charlotte Page
Mrs Eynsford-Hill........................Georgie Glen
Clara Eynsford-Hill........................Maeve Bluebell Wells
Freddy Eynsford-Hill.............................Tom Forrister
Nepommuck........................David Sturzaker
Ambassador........................John Dougall
Ambassadors wife........................Sarah Ridgeway
Bystander........................David Sterne
Written by Bernard Shaw
Produced and directed by Emma Harding
The 'B' Word
Bernard Shaw........................Alistair McGowan
George Alexander........................David Sturzaker
Mrs Patrick Campbell.............................Charlotte Page
Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree........................Richard McCabe
Charlotte Shaw........................Georgie Glen
Merivale........................Philip Fox
Gurney/Fishman........................Simon Ludders
Bell........................Charlie Clements
Maid........................Sarah Ridgeway
Written by Alistair McGowan
Produced and directed by Emma Harding
"Joan of Arc, a village girl from the Vosges, was born about 1412-burnt for heresy, witchcraft, and sorcery in 1431-rehabilitated after a fashion in 1456-designated Venerable in 1904-declared Blessed in 1908-and finally canonized in 1920. She is the most notable Warrior-Saint in the Christian calendar, and the queerest fish among the eccentric worthies of the Middle Ages."-George Bernard Shaw.
With Saint Joan, Shaw reached the height of his fame as a dramatist. Fascinated by the story of Joan of Arc but unhappy with "the whitewash which disfigures her beyond recognition," he presents a realistic Joan at war, not just with British invaders but with realpolitik. This is a masterpiece of the theater of ideas, presented in the most eloquent, vital, human, and moving terms. Blackstone commissioned this production from the award-winning Hollywood Theater of the Ear.
"St. Joan contains not only some of the playwright's most acerbic writing but also his most poetic."-New York Times
