Come and join the Alice Lind Play Reading Society and the New Ulm Actors Community Theatre as they continue their play reading series and celebrate the 100th anniversary of George Bernard Shaw’s classic comedy Pygmalion.
In Pygmalion, professor of phonetics Henry Higgins makes a bet that he can train a bedraggled Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, to pass for a duchess at an ambassador’s garden party by teaching her to assume a veneer of gentility, the most important element of which, he believes, is impeccable speech. The play is a sharp lampoon of the rigid British class system of the day and a commentary on women’s independence.
Based on ancient Greek mythology, Pygmalion was the creator of a statue which came to life and was a popular subject for Victorian era English playwrights, including one of Shaw’s influences, W. S. Gilbert, who wrote a successful play based on the story in 1871, called Pygmalion and Galatea. Shaw also would have been familiar with the burlesque version, Galatea, or Pygmalion Reversed. Shaw’s play has been adapted numerous times, most notably as the musical My Fair Lady and the film of that name.
Volunteers will be asked to read parts throughout the evening. Depending on attendance, the leading roles may be read by several people for each act or scene. Persons attending do not have to read or may request smaller roles to read.
The series is held on the second Tuesday of every month at the historic Lind House located at 622 Center Street, New Ulm, MN. Suggestions for future plays are encouraged.
WHAT: Play Reading of Pygmalion
WHEN: Tuesday, July 10 at 7:00 pm
WHERE: John Lind House, Center & State Streets
FEE: $5 Per Person, Includes Script
To make reservations, please leave a name and phone number on the voice mail at the NUACT office phone (507) 359-9990 along with how many will be in your party. For more information about the play reading options, go to newulmact.com or contact Paul Warshauer (507) 359-9990. For more information about the Lind House, please contact Trudy Beranek at (507) 354-8802, email lindhouse@newulmtel.net .