Major Barbara (play)

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Major Barbara is a 1905 three act play by George Bernard Shaw that was first produced at the Royal Court Theatre in London. It was published in 1907. Major Barbara has been called the most controversial of Shaw's works. His seeming criticism of Christianity and The Salvation Army caused some to accuse him of blasphemy, while others defended what they saw as his realistic presentation of religion.

The play first opened on Broadway at the Playhouse Theatre December 9, 1915. There have been four Broadway revivals, 1928 at the Guild Theatre, 1956 at the Martin Beck Theatre and then the Morosco Theatre, 1980 at the Circle in the Square Theatre, and 2001 at the American Airlines Theatre.

The 1956 revival received the Tony Award for Best Stage Technician (Howard McDonald). It was nominated for Best Scenic Design (Donald Oenslager) and Best Costume Design (Dorothy Jenkins).

The 1980 revival received a Tony nomination for Reproduction (Play or Musical). (Theodore Mann: Artistic Director; Paul Libin: Managing Director).

The actor who played Andrew Undershaft in the 2001 revival, David Warner, received the Theatre World Award.

The play was also adapted into a 1941 film produced by Gabriel Pascal and starring Wendy Hiller.

[edit] Setting

• London
• Act I: Lady Britomart's house
• Act II: The Salvation Army Shelter
• Act III: Munitions Factory

[edit] Synopsis

The story is about an officer in The Salvation Army, Major Barbara Undershaft, who becomes disillusioned by social ills and the willingness of her Christian denomination to accept money from armament manufacturers, which includes her own father.

As the play opens, Lady Britomart, a woman from the British upper class, the daughter of an Earl, who is in her fifties, is discussing with her son, Stephen, some permanent source of income for her grown daughters, Sarah, who is engaged to Charles Lomax, and Barbara, who is engaged to Adolphus Cusins. Lady Britomart comes to the conclusion that the only solution to the present problem is to take monetary help from her estranged husband, Andrew Undershaft.

Mr. Undershaft is a very successful and wealthy businessman who has made millions of pounds from his munitions factory, which manufactures the world famous Undershaft guns, cannons, torpedoes, and submarines. When their children were small, the couple separated due to questions about his wealth and how it would be distributed. According to tradition, the heir to the Undershaft fortune must be an orphan who can be groomed to run the factory. Undershaft himself had been a poor young man, staying at The Salvation Army Shelter; he improved himself by working hard, and wants to give another young man the same kind of opportunity. Lady Britomart has managed to raise the children by herself. Because she has decided to seek help from her estranged husband, Stephen, Sarah, and Barbara are reintroduced with their father.

During their reunion, Undershaft learns that Barbara is a major in The Salvation Army and is employed at their shelter in West Ham, east London. Impressed, he pays her a visit there in order to see her at work. As he watches her handling various people with a great deal of patience, firmness, and sincerity, while she deals with the everyday issues of the Army's social services, he is impressed with her abilities. Undershaft decides that if anyone in his family is capable of managing his business, it is his idealistic and committed daughter.

Undershaft brings Barbara back to reality by revealing the darker side of The Salvation Army when he gives a sizable donation, which she wants to refuse because the source was weaponry, and it is eagerly accepted by the officer in charge of the shelter. Disillusioned, Major Barbara leaves the shelter in tears to go with her father to his ammunition factory. Her fiancé, Adolphus Cusins, also a member of The Salvation Army, a scholar and professor of the Greek language and Greek literature, who is also a hypocrite, as he joined The Salvation Army only because he is in love with Barbara, follows her. He is soon made the heir and head of the Undershaft Munitions Foundry, because he is a foundling.

Barbara, whose idealism has been tempered with reality, has become disillusioned over the hypocrisy of The Salvation Army, because they eagerly took the donation from her father, and she resigns. After she marries Cusins, she plans for them to live in the countryside near the munitions factory, where she will continue her work and bring her message of salvation to the factory workers instead of just to people who are poor and starving.

[edit] External links

• Major Barbara at The Internet Broadway Database (1915)
• Major Barbara at The Internet Broadway Database (1928 revival)
• Major Barbara at The Internet Broadway Database (1956 revival)
• Major Barbara at The Internet Broadway Database (1980 revival)
• Major Barbara at The Internet Broadway Database (2001 revival)
• Articles about Major Barbara at South Coast Repertory

The Plays of George Bernard Shaw

Plays Unpleasant : The Philanderer, Mrs Warren's Profession, Widowers' Houses Plays Pleasant : Arms and the Man, Candida, The Man of Destiny, You Never Can Tell Three Plays for Puritans : Caesar and Cleopatra, Captain Brassbound's Conversion, The Devil's Disciple Back to Methuselah, a cycle of 5 plays : In the Beginning: B.C. 4004 (In the Garden of Eden), The Gospel of the Brothers Barnabas: Present Day, The Thing Happens: A.D. 2170, Tragedy of an Elderly Gentleman: A.D. 3000, As Far as Thought Can Reach: A.D. 31,920 Other Plays : Androcles and the Lion, The Apple Cart, The Doctor's Dilemma, Fanny's First Play, Geneva, Heartbreak House, John Bull's Other Island, Major Barbara, Man and Superman, Misalliance, Pygmalion, Saint Joan