Question

When did the first English-language premiere of "Pygmalion" take place?

• A. October 1913
• B. April 1914
• C. March 1914
• D. June 1912

Answer 1

Answer:

B. April 1914

First English-language Premiere of "Pygmalion"

• The play Pygmalion, a renowned work by George Bernard Shaw, had its first English-language premiere in April 1914.
• This significant premiere took place at His Majesty's Theatre in London.
• Prior to its English debut, Pygmalion was first staged in German at the Hofburg Theatre in Vienna on October 16, 1913. Shaw, being a prominent playwright, often saw his works translated and performed internationally shortly after their completion.
• The play's title, Pygmalion, is derived from a Greek mythological figure. In Ovid's Metamorphoses, Pygmalion is a sculptor who falls in love with his own creation, an ivory statue that is brought to life by Aphrodite.
• Shaw's play explores themes of social class, linguistic snobbery, gender roles, and the challenges of identity. It critiques the rigid class system of Edwardian England.
• The central characters are Professor Henry Higgins, a phonetician, and Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl whom he attempts to transform into a duchess by improving her speech.
• Pygmalion is one of Shaw's most famous and frequently performed plays. It was adapted into the hugely successful 1938 film Pygmalion, for which Shaw co-wrote the screenplay and won an Academy Award, making him the only person to have received both a Nobel Prize in Literature (1925) and an Oscar.
• The play also served as the basis for the popular 1956 Broadway musical My Fair Lady and its subsequent 1964 film adaptation, starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison.
• George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist, and political activist. His extensive body of work includes over 60 plays, essays, and numerous critical works. Other notable plays include Man and Superman, Major Barbara, Saint Joan, and Mrs. Warren's Profession.