I haven't got to know Major Barbara yet but having seen the 1941 film with Rex Harrison, Wendy Hiller, Robert Morley (and a very young Deborah Kerr) as well as Robert Newton as the woman-beating bully, Bill, I feel it is rather too straightforward and its moralising rather simplistic and lacking in irony. The dialogue of the working class characters in the Sally Ann shelter is some of Shaw's most sparkling, most penetratingly honest writing and saves the play from lapsing into an empty 'right versus wrong' struggle which outside of the East End scenes it is often in danger from. I think however that Robert Morley was miscast for the role of Andrew Undershaft (did Shaw have 'underhand' in mind?) as he is far too refined and gentle where the character calls for grittiness and an unabashed lack of conscience. Shaw was an unabashed lecturer to the British people about morals outside his plays and usually, in his plays, he camouflages the moralising with comedy but in Major Barbara, there is very little comedy and so the lecturing (or should it be called hectoring?) is blatantly obvious which I think weakens the play's impact because you are aware of it as the drama unfolds. Normally, when you watch or read a Shaw play, the real message does not reveal itself until after you have left the theatre or closed the script. Not here - it shows itself like a gravy stain on an old worn-out table cloth.
thank you
good summary thanks
I haven't got to know Major Barbara yet but having seen the 1941 film with Rex Harrison, Wendy Hiller, Robert Morley (and a very young Deborah Kerr) as well as Robert Newton as the woman-beating bully, Bill, I feel it is rather too straightforward and its moralising rather simplistic and lacking in irony. The dialogue of the working class characters in the Sally Ann shelter is some of Shaw's most sparkling, most penetratingly honest writing and saves the play from lapsing into an empty 'right versus wrong' struggle which outside of the East End scenes it is often in danger from. I think however that Robert Morley was miscast for the role of Andrew Undershaft (did Shaw have 'underhand' in mind?) as he is far too refined and gentle where the character calls for grittiness and an unabashed lack of conscience.
Shaw was an unabashed lecturer to the British people about morals outside his plays and usually, in his plays, he camouflages the moralising with comedy but in Major Barbara, there is very little comedy and so the lecturing (or should it be called hectoring?) is blatantly obvious which I think weakens the play's impact because you are aware of it as the drama unfolds. Normally, when you watch or read a Shaw play, the real message does not reveal itself until after you have left the theatre or closed the script. Not here - it shows itself like a gravy stain on an old worn-out table cloth.