Search - The Shaw Collection (Pygmalion / The Millionairess / Arms and the Man / The Devil's Disciple / Mrs. Warren's Profession / Heartbreak House) on DVD

More Shaw than you can shake a stick at

viktor_57 | Fairview, Your Favorite State, USA | 05/29/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"With the 150th anniversary of George Bernard Shaw's birth fast approaching (July 26), BBC Warner celebrates the Irish playwright by collecting together ten of his most famous and representative plays, produced by the BBC during the 1970's and 80's with some of the finest British actors of the age, and making them available on six DVDs which also feature documentaries on his life and works. With a total run time of over 11 hours, this collection also represents an excellent bargain at $7 per disc or approximately $3.76 per hour. Where else can you find entertainment at this level of writing, acting, directing, and producing for even twice the price?



The only caveat may be the lack of a live theatre audience. I'm assuming most people watching these DVDs are alive, but will probably not watch them in a theatre with others. The absence of this live theatre audience, especially one schooled in the particular genres popular to theatregoers of Shaw's time, may prove somewhat alienating for some, especially as the dialogue and plot recall a more literary era with social conventions that are no longer conventional. We still produce Shaw, however, because his irony, wit and verbal agility were never ends unto themselves, even if they sweetened his less-palatable moral truths. Shaw the playwright was never far removed from Shaw the polemicist, and we would honor him best on this anniversary by remembering this."

The Shaw Collection

Carol Ouellette | USA | 03/09/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I love - love - love this collection. Most of these 6 plays contain "Bonus Plays" - including the play ANDROCLES AND THE LION which is very dear to my heart. Further, there are Bonus Programs included. If you are a Shaw fan at all - this set is a MUST. You won't be disappointed! Well done!"

Masterful productions of Shaw Masterpieces

Bruce D. Reeves | Berkeley, CA USA | 08/01/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"All-star productions rarely seen in this country of some of Shaw's best plays: worth watching again and again."

Classics -- Done Right

James vanMaanen | Queens, NY | 03/12/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Bernard Shaw in my mind is the greatest playwright we've ever had. I prefer him even to Shakespeare (but, shoot, we can have 'em both, so why quibble?). This collection offers a simply great Devil's Disciple and Arms and the Man plus a Heartbreak House to die for. Mrs. Warren's Profession is good, and I have not yet seen The Millionairess or Pygmalion, but I imagine that they, too, are quite up to snuff. If you love Shaw, this is a must for your library. And you'll want your kids and theirs to share it, too. These plays can be watched again and again without tarnishing their greatness."