Man and Superman

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Man and Superman is a drama written by George Bernard Shaw. The play was written in 1903 as a four act drama, responding to those that had questioned Shaw why he had never written a Don Juan theme. Man and Superman opened at The Court Theatre in London on 23 May 1905 without the performance of the 3rd Act. A part of the act, Don Juan in Hell (Act 3, Scene 2), was performed when the drama staged on June 4, 1907 at the Court Theatre. The play was not produced in its entirety until 1915 by the Travelling Repertory Company at the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh.

The long third act of the play is often cut. Don Juan in Hell consists of a philosophical debate between Don Juan (played by the same actor who plays Jack Tanner), and the Devil (Mendoza, a Spaniard), with Doña Ana (Ann) and the Statue of Ana's father (Roebuck Ramsden, an aged acquaintance of Tanner's and Ann's Guardian) looking on. Don Juan in Hell is often performed separately as a play in its own right, most famously in the 50's in a concert version with Charles Boyer as Don Juan, Charles Laughton as the Devil, Cedric Hardwicke as the Commander, and Agnes Moorehead as Doña Ana.

Although Man and Superman can be performed as a light comedy of manners. However, as suggested by the title, Shaw intended the drama to be something much deeper. This title comes from Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical ideas about the "Superman." The plot centers on John Tanner, author of "The Revolutionist's Handbook and Pocket Companion." Tanner is a confirmed bachelor despite the pursuits of Ann Whitefield and her persistent efforts to make him marry her. Ann is referred to as "The Life Force" and represents Shaw's view that in every culture, it is the women who force the men to marry them rather than the men that take the initiative.

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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