Man and Superman - Softcover

Shaw, Bernard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1420928929 ISBN 13: 9781420928921

Publisher: Digireads.Com, 2007

Synopsis

"Man and Superman" is George Bernard Shaw's response to the request of his fans to write a Don Juan themed play. This four-act drama often preformed without or with an abbreviated version of the lengthy third act can be seen as a simple comedy of manners or, as Shaw had intended, something quite more, an exposition of Nietzsche's philosophical ideas of the "Superman." "Man and Superman" is considered to be one of Shaw's greatest works, a masterpiece of dramatic literature.

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Review:

How tantalizing to hear Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient, Schindler's List) but not be able to see him! And hear him one does in his role as Jack Tanner, the antihero of Shaw's 1905 classic drama Man and Superman. Fiennes is a veritable mouthpiece--and a frequently sarcastic one at that--for the burning issues on Shaw's philosophical and social laundry list: the state of the English working class, the arms race, women's rights, unwed mothers, the evils of industry and capitalism, and English morality in general. The seriousness of the discussions is tempered by delightful Shavian wit ("There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart's desire. The other is to gain it."), which prevents the dialogue from collapsing under its own weight, although it does teeter at times. The four-act play, directed by the esteemed Peter Hall for BBC Radio, begins in the English countryside and ends in the mountains of Spain after a curious detour to Hell, where, in act 3, the famous dream sequence unfolds and the main characters take on such roles as Don Juan and the Devil to further hash out the meaning of existence, the definition of life force, and the power of the female sex. This is a spirited production of Shaw's imperfect but intellectually challenging work. (Running time: 225 min; four cassettes)

From the Inside Flap:

Man and Superman was the first drama to be broadcast on the BBC's Third Programme on October 1st, 1946. To celebrate Radio 3's 50th anniversary, the play has now been directed by Sir Peter Hall, and preserved for all time in this lush audio dramatization.
"A comedy and a philosophy," Man and Superman is based on the Don Juan theme and, using all the elements from Mozart's Don Giovanni, Shaw reordered them so that Don Juan becomes the quarry instead of the huntsman. Boasting an outstanding cast including Ralph Fiennes, Juliet Stevenson, Dame Judi Dench, John Wood, Nicholas Le Prevost and Paul Merton, this four cassette release includes an exclusive interview with director Sir Peter Hall.

About this edition

• Publisher: Digireads.Com
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1420928929
• ISBN 13: 9781420928921
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 120