Long Beach Playhouse’s (LBPH) production of the play, running its last weekend March 25-27, was clever and spirited.
It was easy to get lost in the excellent acting, making it all the easier to empathize with Eliza Doolittle, the quirky heroine of the play.
The plot revolves around whether main character Henry Higgins, a phonetics professor and enthusiast, could turn Doolittle, a cockney woman selling flowers on the street as her source of income, into a gilded woman of high society.
She agrees to his social experiment in hopes of earning enough income to open up her own modest flower shop, attempting to bridge the gap between her and the middle class.
Doolittle quickly becomes a well trained puppet for her master Higgins and his right-hand man/character foil, Colonel Pickering, a well mannered gentleman.
Adapted from Greek mythology, and eventually inspiring Alan Jay Lerner’s My Fair Lady (staring Audrey Hepburn in the film adaptation), Pygmalion rejects archetypes and satirically pokes fun at social normativity.
While Shaw is known for his “talky” plays in which the plot has little progression, Pygmalion is hardly an exception. His writing, this play included, makes its point through characterization rather than plot progression, which is why adequate casting was crucial and executed for the LBPH’s production.
Acting in a British play emphasizing phonetics, everyone in the cast did wonderfully with the accents.
High appraisal for Tiffany Toner, who played Eliza Doolittle, switching from a cockney accent to a refined one with such grace.
Her depiction of Doolittle, though late for the independence train ( i.e., not asserting her independence until the last act), is sassy and unconventional for a heroine, a good message to send to the audience.
Wilhelm Peters depicted Henry Higgins’s character as a slightly manic and controlling mama’s boy, forgetting all graces of the upper class.
These emphasized characteristics turns Higgins into a slightly static caricature of himself, making him lovable and hard to dislike, feminism aside.
The small yet lovable role of Eliza’s father, Mr. Doolittle, played by Mitchell Nunn, brought humor and admirability to the character list.
A drunk with little means, Mr. Doolittle was often looking out for himself and wife, until he actually comes into money and is expected to act civilized in his new social standing.
Professing his hatred for all things proper, Doolittle’s character is used to represent Shaw’s rejection of societal norms and expectations in comparison to Higgins’s refined mother.
The strongest and boldest character was Susie McCarthy’s depiction of Mrs. Higgins, Henry’s mother.
Though a small part in the play, she wears her class comfortably, subtly yet strongly reminding her son of his often forgotten social graces.
It is Mrs. Higgins who in fact helps Doolittle with her final-act vuelta, a true progressive of her time.
This minor plot twist, which appears to be Shaw’s last-ditch effort to help Henry grow as a character, leaves a light fable-esque imprint on the audience.
Long Beach Playhouse’s Pygmalion will run through March 27 on the Mainstage at 5021 E. Anaheim St., with the following performance times: Friday and Saturday, March 25-26 at 8pm and Sunday, March 27 at 2pm.
For tickets and information, visit lbplayhouse.org or call (562) 494-1014.
