Theatre Row and George Bernard Shaw

If you are one of the New York refugees who has trekked to Niagara-on-the-Lake in Canada to see their very fine Shaw productions, doubtless you have asked yourself why so few of his plays are mounted in New York. After all, this is the man who told us that "There is no love sincerer than the love of food." Happily, the Gingold Theatrical Group, named for the late great Hermione Gingold, has taken to reading his plays at the Players Club as part of their Shaw Project.

Now they have co-produced a full production of You Never Can Tell with the Pearl Theater Company on Theater Row directed by David Staller and it's Broadway quality at Off-Broadway prices. The Pearl is a lovely small house all the way west on 42nd St and if you like the classics you'll like what they do.

Up next are Sartre's No Exit, Sheridan's The Rivals and a new play by Terrence McNally called And Away We Go. Rory and I plan to attend all of them.  Although we paid about $25 per ticket through TDF during the previews their regular prices are not bad--$40 for members. The membership is $50 and despite Groucho's warning you do want to be a member of this particular club. And how nice is it to go to the theater on this quiet part of 42nd St with other small theaters offering new and unusual plays and musicals at old time prices.

Happily for us, Project Shaw is moving to the Upper West Side's Symphony Space for their next script-in-hand readings (you won't notice, I promise) which will be Don Juan in Hell from Man and Superman, Candida and The Devil's Disciple. Of course, always try TDF but their regular tickets are only $30.

(Source: Shaw New York 2013)

The Gingold Group is doing this to "champion human rights with the work of GBS as their platform." But if you're not familiar with his works, don't worry about their serious purpose--you'll enjoy these wonderfully funny and wise plays. As the great man says, "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."

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