Pigmalion Lib/E

by Mark Dunn, Various (Reading)

A full-cast production inspired by Pygmalion, Shaw's classic drawing room tale of language and class division, and its musical incarnation, My Fair LadyPIGmalion tells the story of one Eliza Doolittle, who sells homemade pork rinds at the Tri-Counties Fair and Livestock Show. The daughter of a hardscrabble Mississippi pig farmer, Eliza dreams of someday working as a waitress at "one of those nice downtown barbecue restaurants where all the tourists go."

Audio CD

First published March 1, 2010

About the author

Mark Dunn is the author of several books and more than thirty full-length plays, a dozen of which have been published in acting edition.

Mark has received over 200 productions of his work for the stage throughout the world, with translations of his plays into French, Italian, Dutch and Hungarian. His play North Fork (later retitled Cabin Fever: A Texas Tragicomedy when it was picked up for publication by Samuel French) premiered at the New Jersey Repertory Company (NJRC) in 1999 and has since gone on to receive numerous productions throughout the U.S.

Mark is co-author with NJRC composer-in-residence Merek Royce Press of Octet: A Concert Play, which received its world premiere at NJRC in 2000. Two of his plays, Helen’s Most Favorite Day and Dix Tableaux, have gone on to publication and national licensing by Samuel French. His novels include the award-winning Ella Minnow Pea, Welcome to Higby, Ibid, the children’s novel The Calamitous Adventures of Rodney and Wayne, Under the Harrow and Feral Park.

Mark teaches creative writing and leads playwriting seminars around the country, in addition to serving as Vice President of the non-profit PULA (People United for Libraries in Africa), which he founded with his wife, Mary, in 2002.

(modified bio courtesy of http://njrep.org/playwrights.htm)

Reviews

[Casey Bautsch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, this was cute.

My Fair Lady is one of my favorite musicals of all time, and I think I might like this even better, if only because Eliza doesn’t actually end of with Higgins, my least favorite part of the original.

Very cleverly reworked into a modern setting, I highly recommend listening to it if possible, there is a very nice cast recording available.

[Madeleine · Rating 4 out of 5]

An utterly charming and warmly human variation on "Pygmalion" and "My Fair Lady," with loads of references to both.

Dunn's creative liberties successfully reimagine the English flower girl as a pig farmer's daughter in the modern-day American South. This play is populated by a small but specific cast who are acting quite differently from their previous incarnations, if they were originally there at all -- I don't recall Eliza having a trannie pal before, which is a shame because Tiffany Box is both a hoot and a delight.

Prof. Higgins wasn't a blustery old sot in this (except through Higgins's remembrances of arguments past), which I loved because he's one of my favorite theatrical characters ever and I want him to be less cranky. The conflict, instead, arises from Freddy's unpleasant sister, Eliza's own floundering sense of self worth, and the question of when does self-improvement stop being a few helpful tweaks and start compromising an individual's endearing idiosyncrasies.

Thanks, Mark Dunn, for making insomnia suck a little less. You're one of my favorites for a reason.