PYGMALION

The story of Pygmalion is about as old as Jesus.

Although George Bernard Shaw’s play is perhaps the most well-known version to modern audiences (particularly after the film adaptation My Fair Lady), the original Pygmalion myth is drawn from Ovid’s Metamorphosis, finished around 8 AD. It’s little wonder, then, that one of the biggest challenges for director Peter Evans in staging Shaw’s classic play for the STC this season was giving it a new life, making it palatable for new and younger theatre-goers.

The play represents a new direction in education for the STC, having been selected partly because it features on the school syllabus this year, aiming to give students across the state the chance to see a high-quality, challenging, and thoughtful production of what could seem on first glance a somewhat outdated choice.

There is plenty in Pygmalion to resonate with contemporary audiences, however, and Evans’ production plays on this timelessness – the desire to change oneself, the pressure to fit in, and the age-old battle of the sexes, are themes that are unlikely to date as long as humans walk the earth.

The first half of the show sparkles. Engaging, sweet, tight, and frequently laugh-out-loud funny, it showcases the tremendous talent and commitment to the story of the leads. Although still carried along by wonderful performances (particularly from STC newcomer Andrea Demetriades, who is magnetic as the complex and tumultuous Eliza Doolittle), the second half seemed to fall a little flatter, bringing audiences well and truly back to earth with the bordering-on histrionic fallout of Professor Higgins’ ‘experiment’. Despite this, Pygmalion is delightful when it delivers. The performances are what really hold it all together in a set so sparse its barely existent, and these are on the most part flawless, with theatre veteran Marcus Chiappi’s Professor Higgins’ also worth particular mention.

Until Mar 3, Sydney Theatre Company, Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay, $45-130, 9250 1777, sydneytheatre.com.au