Man and Superman
Performed at The Criterion Theatre, London.
A play by George Bernard Shaw.
Opened 28th September, 1911 - ran for 191 performances.
Starring: Pauline Chase.
Editorial and Photos all as published in 'The Play Pictorial' Vol. V, No. 25 (1911).
REVIEW
So many things have been said, and so many things have been written about Mr. Bernard Shaw, that it would be difficult to say anything new. So much has been said and written also on "Man and Superman" that the same difficulty is experienced as regards the play. To suggest that "Man and Superman" deserves the position of its author's masterpiece may not be new to Mr. Shaw; but the almost frantic applause to which the present revival is subjected surely warrants the reiteration. According to generally accepted records, "Man and Superman" was produced at the Court Theatre in May, 1905, since when it has seen several revivals, which in nearly every case have proved successful.
There is little or nothing in the story. A young man who possesses what is commonly called "advanced ideas" finds himself surrounded by a set of ordinary beings who are abject slaves to convention; and the main idea consists of an endeavour to show how utterly futile are modern ideas and "advanced" thought when brought into practice amid the social conditions of our present 'civilised' state.
John Tanner, the advanced young man in question, is regarded by his friends with horror. He has written a book in which he promulgates views and thoughts so foreign to the modern English mind that many of its readers are astounded at the author's audacity in putting such a book before the public. Among those who damn the work without reading it is an old gentleman, Roebuck Ramsden. He forbids John Tanner his house, but finds that it is impossible to carry his command into effect, inasmuch as he is appointed joint-guardian with that same young man over the fortunes of his friend's daughter, Ann Whitefield.
Ramsden refuses to act, and Ann is appealed to. She must release the one or the other. Ann refuses. As will be discovered from the play, she had her own private reasons for doing so. John Tanner's views on marriage are very fully and definitely expressed as the play goes on, but the wily Ann sets her trap for him in spite of all. No one realises the position of affairs more than John Tanner himself. He feels himself being gradually drawn into the net, little by little, against his will. He is the victim of circumstances over which he, even with his strong views, has less control than the simple, unsophisticated girl, who has nothing to guide her but her own natural femininity.
He runs away from her, but Ann follows. He finds himself placed in positions from which he is powerless to free himself, and finally, accepting the inevitable, beaten in spite of himself, he marries her. One is almost forced to believe that the play was not written for the stage. But the stage was used as an outlet for the play, and the play, in its turn, does duty as an outlet for the whimsical thoughts of one of the cleverest men of the century.
Mr. Bernard Shaw's plays are actually not plays at all, when viewed in the light of modern theatrical criticism; but that a Shavian play, which is not really a play, should draw playgoers in their thousands to see it is a remarkable fact. and one almost as Shavian as that the author should have written it.
That so many people take Mr. Bernard Shaw seriously is as astounding to me as it probably is to the author himself. If Mr. Bernard Shaw does not take himself seriously, what grounds have others for doing so? To me he is a brilliant humorist, with an abnormal imagination and an almost uncanny faculty for taking ideals and placing them side by side with the realisms of ordinary life.
In "Man and Superman" it is nothing but the brilliant dialogue that attracts. There is no real love interest or, as a matter of fact, no real human interest, in all the three acts; while the ending of the story becomes obvious before the finish of the first act. We know perfectly well that John Tanner will marry Ann Whitefield or rather that Ann Whitefield will marry John Tanner. We do not need the insight of a Straker to tell us that.
The wonderful power of the author shows itself here for even with the knowledge of its ultimate conclusion, the interest of the audience grows keener as the play proceeds. While we blame nine out of every ten authors who commit the sin of making their characters talk irrelevantly, we not only condone the offence in "Man and Superman," but we encourage the author in his wickedness by our vigorous applause.
We want to hear John Tanner's views - that is, Mr. Bernard Shaw's views through John Tanner - on every conceivable subject; and although we admit the truth of them and try to imagine what an ethereal world this would be if we adopted them in the conduct of our lives, we are distinctly relieved to see how impossible they would be to follow. Throughout the story of John Tanner's life between the first rising and the final fall of the curtain we admire the high principles upon which he is endeavouring to shape his ends, but we are mightily glad when we see this strong-minded and exceptionally 'advanced' young man come a terrible cropper before the simple, hypocritical devices of an inexperienced, feather-brained young girl.
Roebuck Ramsden is a character not drawn from a small section of Society. We meet him every day; we respect him for what we consider his respectable traits, and until we have such a facile pen as that wielded by Mr. G. Bernard Shaw to show us how small he really is, we go on respecting and admiring him. As John Tanner points out, he and his friends are at cross-purposes with Nature, but the author is too clever to let the purposes predominate over the cross-purposes.
We cannot imagine a Roebuck Ramsden with the thoughts of a John Tanner occupying a position of worldly trust. Octavius, too, is drawn from a common type. He has a longing to do the right thing, but his outlook is so warped that his conception of the right thing is moulded by his conventional environments. As much may be said of all the characters in the play-except John Tanner. They are taken from the crowd, put before us exactly as we know them, and then roasted alive by new thoughts and doctrines, the truth of which we cannot gainsay, but which, if we want to live happily, we are powerless to adopt.
There is much to think about in "Man and Superman," much to strive after, and a good deal to learn; but he who attempts to model his life on the dogmas of John Tanner will suffer a disappointment equal only to what we can imagine would be suffered by the author should he find anyone seriously trying the experiment!
SCENES FROM THE PLAY
| Click any image for a larger view |
Ann refuses to release her guardians |
In the coils of the Boa |
Philosophy on a motor car |
Straker discourses on records |
Octavius justifies Ann's deceit |
Ann throws the blame on her mother |
Malone and his wife exchange confidences |
Tanner learns of Ann's scheme |
Tanner resolves to flee to a Mahometan Country |
Ann Whitefield (Pauline Chase) |
Hector's reconciliation with his father |
In the hotel grounds at Granada |
John Tanner prophesies his marriage |
Octavius declares his love for Ann |
The 'life force' enchants John Tanner |
Ann prepares to faint |
The fainting fit does not last long |
Ann advises Tanner to go on talking |
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