Treatment shaves

too much

of Shaw

Lady. So I didn’t go to Vancouver Playhouse’s

C ALL ME unschooled but I’ve never seen My Fair

Pygmalion expecting the Julie Andrews bit.

But, cahhwww, this version by
director Denise Coffey is stark
naked (of sets, that is). For a clever
twist she has the inimitable Mr.
Shaw as one of the characters
entering the action in tne roles of
various minor characters. At the
snap of his finger scenes start,
finish, or freeze mid-frame for
some Shavian interjection.

tt’s all such a splendid idea, and
yet not quite as smashing in ac-
tion.

The minimalist set does succeed
in drawing attention to the work in
progress and to the repartee. It
succeeds in scenes where charac-
ters are in conflict with one
another and especially where
dialects clash (such as the scenes
with Higgins and Doolittle).

But in more conversational
scenes the minimal movement and
furniture are a detriment, reducing
theatre to a radio play. One grows
bug-eyed from staring at a bare,
black stage and actors illuminated
by spotlights.

Norman Browning’s Shaw not
only lacked a distinguishable ac-
cent but also that sparkle of
unabashed wit, that lovable
crustiness. Nor was his buffoonery
counterbalanced by the familiar
Shavian dignity. A more vibrant
Shaw might have whisked the
show along at a brisker pace.

Andrew Gillies as the immora!
linguist Higgins, who takes on the
“guttersnipe” Eliza as a linguistic
experiment, is very convincing.
The North Shore’s Peter Haworth
brings a benign air to Colonel
Pickering and, also from the North
Shore, Betty Phillips breathes
motherly sensibility into Mrs. Hig-
gins.

The production didn’t showcase
Nicola Cavendish’s comic talent as
much as | expected, but her
transformation from Cockney
flower girl to noble woman was
deftly handled, and the accent

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theatre review

certainly became easier to under-
stand.

Cavendish’s last scene was
especially delicious as, dignity in-
tact, Eliza demonstrates her in-
dependence of Higgins and ex-
poses his arrogance.

Naturally, the scene in which
Eliza, in an attempt to ‘‘spake
loik a ly-dee,” brutalizes the
English language, is hilarious. The
subsequent scene where Eliza is
presented as Higgins’ triumph at
an At Home is funny, but with an
edge, since it is the beginning of
Eliza’s loss of innocence and rustic
charm.

There is no romantic goop in
this production — it’s sheer social-
ist Shaw. He exposes the dilemma
of a woman, now so refined that
she cannot look forward to better
employment, only marriage and,
ultimately, boredom. Her father,
Alfred Doolittle (played by Dun-
can Fraser), suffers the same fate
when his free-flowing gutter
rhetoric is domesticated for the
middle class lecture circuit.

Fraser was delightful in his first
scene in which he extorts money
from Higgins in exchange for his
daughter. And his grimy, working
class costume was a standout.

Coffey’s remarks that this ver-
sion is “as fluid and fast as film’
are not borne out by the produc-
tion. The audience was visibly ex-
hausted by the Third Act.

Pgymalion continues to March 9
at the Vancouver Playhouse. Call
873-3311 for ticket information.

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photo Laine Harder
THE NORTH SHORE contingent of The Vancouver Playhouse’s production of Pgymalion ham it up
on stage. From left to right are: Betty Phillips, Nicola Cavendish and Peter Haworth. This version
of the Shaw play features G.B. Shaw as a character, taking part in the action, and a set which
leaves quite a lot to the imagination.

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