I was just reading an interview between the playwright Arthur Miller and some big name theatre critic conducted around the early sixties and was struck by how much weight they gave to Bernard Shaw and T.S. Eliot as dramatists. I can't imagine anyone seriously doing the same today, even if they were great admirers of Eliot as a poet.
Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever had the chance to see Eliot acted on stage - not even Murder in the Cathedral. And the only Shaw I've ever seen on stage is Heartbreak House - performed in Singapore oddly enough, by a British touring company, and quite brilliantly.
Shaw is the real oddity, I think, in terms of the ebb and flow of reputation. When I was a youngster I seem to recall him as quite a dominant theatrical presence, as it were. Lots of stuff on the BBC, for example. In fact, now I come to think of it, we did his Caesar and Cleopatra for 'O' level. What an extraordinary choice. I don't think I can remember a single line of it. I've got a feeling I read a few of his plays borrowed from Denton Library without them having much impact. I suppose they just went right over my head.
Does anyone take Shaw seriously now? You don't see his plays as set texts, as far as I can remember - the exception being Pygmalion, but that's rare. (And I reckon My Fair Lady is the better night out.)
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