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I saw Pygmalion presented by Gingold Theatrical Group at Theatre Row on October 30 at 7pm, and I really enjoyed it. I went in not knowing the play well, but I am familiar with the work of George Bernard Shaw, which is what pulled me in. The piece holds up beautifully. It is smart, sharp, and surprisingly accessible.
At its core, Pygmalion tells the story of Eliza Doolittle, a working class flower seller with a strong Cockney accent who becomes the subject of a social experiment. Professor Henry Higgins, a phonetics expert, claims he can teach her to speak like an upper class woman. He treats this as a technical puzzle rather than a human relationship. A bet drives the action. If Eliza can pass as a duchess in high society, Higgins wins. Eliza, meanwhile, is the one who bears the cost of the experiment.
On the surface, the play is about language and class. Shaw makes it painfully clear how speech controls access to power, money, and respect. Accent shapes how people are treated far more than intelligence or character. Watching this play now, that observation still lands hard. The idea that sounding and acting “right” opens doors while everything else is secondary feels as relevant as ever.
Dig a little deeper and the play becomes a critique of arrogance and casual cruelty. Higgins never really sees Eliza as a person. He sees a project. Eliza’s transformation is not just external. She gains self respect and begins to understand her own worth, which is something Higgins never anticipates or fully understands. The play argues that class divisions are artificial and that true growth comes from being treated as fully human, not from successfully imitating someone else’s status.
Most of the cast was strong, with only a few minor hiccups. Performances felt grounded and clear, and the language was delivered in a way that made Shaw’s ideas easy to follow without sanding off their bite. The production trusted the text, which I appreciated.
The set was simple but very effective, looming in a way that subtly reinforced the power dynamics at play. Nothing felt overdesigned. The focus stayed where it belonged, on the ideas and the people caught inside them. This was a thoughtful, well acted production that reminded me why Shaw endures and why Pygmalion continues to be worth revisiting.
