Man and Superman
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Man and Superman is a 1903 play in four acts by George Bernard Shaw. It opened at The Criterion Theatre in London on 28 September 1911 and ran for 191 performances but enjoyed subsequent revivals. It starred Pauline Chase.
Although Man and Superman can be performed as a light comedy of manners, Shaw intended it to be something much deeper than that, as can be seen by the play's very title. This title comes from Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical ideas about the "Superman."
The plot is centered on John Tanner, author of "The Revolutionist's Handbook and Pocket Companion" and a confirmed bachelor, and the lovely Ann's persistent efforts to make him marry her. Ann is referred to as "The Life Force" and represents Shaw's view that in every culture, it's the women who force the men to marry them, rather than the men taking the initiative.
In performance, the long third act of the play is often cut. Referred to as Don Juan in Hell, it consists of a philosophical debate between Don Juan (played by the same actor who plays Jack Tanner), and the Devil (Mendoza, a Spaniard), with Doña Ana (Ann) and the Statue of Ana's father (Roebuck Ramsden, an aged acquaintance of Tanner's and Ann's Guardian) looking on. Don Juan in Hell is often performed separately as a play in its own right, most famously in the 50's in a concert version with Charles Boyer as Don Juan, Charles Laughton as the Devil, Cedric Hardwicke as the Commander, and Agnes Moorehead as Doña Ana.
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| The Plays of George Bernard Shaw |
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| Plays Unpleasant : The Philanderer, Mrs Warren's Profession, Widowers' Houses Plays Pleasant : Arms and the Man, Candida, The Man of Destiny, You Never Can Tell Three Plays for Puritans : Caesar and Cleopatra, Captain Brassbound's Conversion, The Devil's Disciple Back to Methuselah, a cycle of 5 plays : In the Beginning: B.C. 4004 (In the Garden of Eden), The Gospel of the Brothers Barnabas: Present Day, The Thing Happens: A.D. 2170, Tragedy of an Elderly Gentleman: A.D. 3000, As Far as Thought Can Reach: A.D. 31,920 Other Plays : Androcles and the Lion, The Apple Cart, The Doctor's Dilemma, Fanny's First Play, Geneva, Heartbreak House, John Bull's Other Island, Major Barbara, Man and Superman, Misalliance, Pygmalion, Saint Joan |
