Backstage of Winthrop’s upcoming theatre production.
By Kyan Feser
Staff Writer
AC&T
Debuting September 30 in the Johnson Studio Theatre, students of Winthrop’s department of theatre and dance will perform a new take on George Shaw’s classic “Pygmalion.”
Originally written by George Bernard Shaw in 1912, “Pygmalion” follows a phonetics professor’s journey to transform an impoverished, improper-speaking flower girl into a member of high society.
Unlike the original “Pygmalion,” the reimagined comedy focuses on this flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, a character previously in the backseat, said Mattie Washburn, theatre education major and the play’s director.
“We’re taking this in a direction that’s very focused on Eliza’s journey, so we’re very much coming at it from the angle of telling a story about women for women,” Washburn said.
“It’s definitely very big about women’s empowerment, and how it’s not fair to control someone as if they’re an object, or as if they’re a tool when we’re people. Women are people,” said Maryah McIntosh, theatre education major and actor for the character Clara Hill.
Furthermore, the play now takes place in the mid ‘60s, amid the various conflicts of the time, said Marlee Sellers, theatre education major and actor for the character Mrs. Higgins.
Despite these changes, the script itself has undergone very few rewrites, Washburn explained.
“There’s been little slang changes here and there and everywhere, but overall, it is still George Bernard Shaw’s script,” Washburn said.
Even in a script like this, one filled with drama and conflicting views, the characters “all somehow end up together,” said Maria Clara Pereira de Quadros, theatre major and actor for the characters Mrs. Eynsford Hill and Mrs. Pearce.
This togetherness is also felt by the cast, said Dayshayn Powe, sophomore and double mass communication and theatre major, and actor for the characters Freddy Hill and Alfred Doolittle.
“Every person that’s behind the show, whether it’s cast, whether it’s crew, everyone just gets together so nicely, and it’s like a bond,” Powe said.
For Washburn, the chance to direct a show like Pygmalion, one where everyone already has experience, has been a fun and exciting opportunity, she said.
Unlike directing K-12 theatre, something Washburn is familiar with, directing college students is more about curation and guidance, as opposed to teaching students along the way, she explained.
“My favorite part about doing all of this has definitely been being able to collaborate with all these wonderful artists and all these wonderful human beings,” she added.
“Theatre is about community; it’s about establishing community, and there is no better way to do that than working on a product together.”
The show begins at 7:30 p.m. every night from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3, except for its final showing on Oct. 4, which begins at 2 p.m.
