George Bernard Shaw was a revolutionary for his time, a member of the famed and radical Fabian Society and a passionate feminist who believed strongly that women should not be pigeonholed into stereotypical roles. He also believed that relationships should not be governed by conventional notions of gender or sexual orientation or be built around the sex act. He poured all these passions into what is considered by many to be his best play, Pygmalion. An instant classic, it became, almost word for word, the libretto for Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady, and even many of the song lyrics also come from Pygmalion and Shaw‘s loquacious afterward. Shaw had lengthy affairs of the heart that were never consummated, one with the actor who played Eliza in the original Pygmalion, so it is not just Higgins with whom Shaw identifies, but with Eliza, Pickering and Freddie. All of them struggle to define themselves in the Edwardian world of male and female polarization, battling stereotypes as they forge relationships, and complicated intimacies.
Our production tries to return to the spirit of Shaw, who conceived of the three main characters as being of similar age. Eliza Doolittle, the protagonist of the play, undertakes, for her time, an incredibly courageous journey by leaving her dirt poor Covent Garden life to put herself in the hands of a man she suspects may be mad. She takes this leap in order to lift herself out of the class to which she has been sentenced by her speech into a terrifying brave new world. Her encounter with Henry Higgins, a lonely troubled genius and Pickering, a secretly gay military man, transforms all three into a complicated asexual ménage where they accomplish the impossible.
This production of My Fair Lady is not a revival. It is a reclamation. We are not here to preserve a relic of musical theatre history. We are here to breathe new life into it by centering autonomy, empathy, and the power of self-definition. We invite our audience to rediscover My Fair Lady not as a fairytale, but as a mirror. We invite you to see yourselves in Eliza’s longing, her struggle, and her strength. We ask you to leave not with nostalgia, but with a new question: what if transformation isn’t something done to us but something we claim for ourselves?
In 2025, we live in a time when so many people – especially women, queer folks, and those in the margins – are still fighting for the right to define themselves on their own terms. Our work in the empathy gym is not just to tell Eliza’s story, but to honor her agency. That’s what we’re unpacking and that is what makes My Fair Lady, and the Pygmalion inside it, not just relevant, but radical.
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Loved the play and your reclamation success. I did not read your comments before the play so I had no idea of what to expect. I did have an expectation that it was going to be excellent because a friend of mine and her husband went last week and give the production a glowing review. My friend’s husband (David Fleischhacker) played a wonderful Alfie Doolittle in a production in SF about 25 years ago. I was also in that production and played Eliza. (Our Higgins was played by the incredible Paul Pelosi). I am so glad I came on Thursday night. I was dashed, dashed I tell you! You and your wonderful cast did indeed breathe new life, energy, and significance into the production. The ending was wonderful, sweet, and hopeful. These unusual and struggling characters found their strength and people they could trust and love, who would be there for them. I think they worked to claim something even though they weren’t sure how it would turn out. I wonder how this circle of friends would have lived the rest of their lives? I liked that Eliza was wearing pants in her last 2 scenes. I liked so many other details of the costuming as well.
Bravo and thank you! Terry Hove