Pygmalion

Every year Seattle Shakespeare Company produces one to two non-Shakespearean works, and usually to great effect. Last year was a mixed success, with the wonderfully philosophical Wittenberg running in rep with Hamlet, followed by the rather disastrous Threepenny Opera. So this year they wisely decided to eschew the musical and instead opt for Pygmalion, otherwise known as the origin for My Fair Lady. And after seeing this production, it pains me that the original is so much less well known because frankly, the musical doesn't do it justice.

For those unfamiliar, Pygmalion is a story based on the myth of the same name where a sculptor created a statue of the perfect woman and fell in love with it. After making an offering to Aphrodite the statue came alive and was called Galitea. The play itself revolves around the brash and socially awkward Professor Henry Higgins who studies phonetics, and a lowly flower girl named Eliza Doolittle. After overhearing him say to a fellow phonetics scholar named Colonel Pickering that he could take this lowly flower girl, teach her to speak proper English and make her a lady's maid, she offers to become his pupil. Pickering says he'll take the bet and cover all costs if Higgins can convince everyone at an important ball in 6 months that this girl is a proper lady. As the 6 months fly by, we see Eliza progress from flower girl, to a girl who can pronounce the words but still makes rather odd "small talk", to a lady. But of course, things don't end there. After the men almost completely ignore her after her success at the ball, Eliza disappears, only to show up at Higgins' mother's house the next day after the men have been searching high and low for her. In a final confrontation, Eliza finally stands up for herself and breaks Higgins down, but instead of being sad or depressed he actually becomes ecstatic, saying he prefers her as this "pillar of strength". As if their conversation hasn't happened he gives her a list of errands, which she refuses to do, instead telling Higgins to do them himself as she leaves. With a giant grin Higgins stands and exclaims, "Galatea!", and the play ends.

As with nearly every production Seattle Shakes added their own twist to the story, with an actor playing George Bernard Shaw. His lines consisted mainly of stage directions, yet somehow he added a kind of magic to every scene. It also helped that the actor, A. Bryan Humphrey, doubled as Eliza's "undeserving poor" father, making the presence of the author felt throughout the play. That, and the fact that Humphrey was just plain brilliant and ruled that stage whenever he was on it.

Though really, that could be said of every actor in this play. Mark Anders as a fidgety, crotchety, stubborn and often childish Mr. Higgins worked perfectly. Jennifer Lee Taylor as Eliza reminded me so much of Shana Bestock it was scary, but her performance stood on its own as a masterpiece of both comedic and dramatic timing. R. Hamilton Wright as Pickering was the prime personification of a proper English gentleman. Even the smaller roles like Trick Danneker's effortlessly adorable Freddy Eynsford-Hill were played well. And I don't have the program with me so I can't credit the person directly, but whoever did the dialect coaching for this production should be given a freaking medal. Each and every dialect was distinct for each character, and that is no small feat in any play, let alone one where the accents are being pointed out.

On the technical side, it's rare for me to not actually pay attention to it. The costumes, set, music...everything was overshadowed by the acting. That isn't to say they were bad, it was just that they weren't anything special. And besides, having the stage directions explained aloud somehow made it all seem more than it was anyhow. I suppose that means they simply did their job, staying out of focus, providing non-intrusive background for the action on stage.

The point I'm trying to make here is that the play was good. Like, really good. It hit all the right notes and timing for the humor, and was just as perfect with the more serious parts. The scene after the ball where Pickering and Higgins ignored Eliza nearly ripped my heart to shreds, and a great deal of it was silent. This production managed to obtain that so hard to find je ne sais quoi, that quality that made it shine. It had a heart to it. In essence, much like the myth it's based on, they took a well beloved and well crafted show and gave it life.

Pygmalion gets a 10/10.