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The Apple Cart: A Political Extravaganza is a 1929 play by George Bernard Shaw. Though it offers some laughs, the play is primarily a reflection on a number of political philosophies and characters who frequently deliver lengthy speeches defending their views. It follows the fictional King Magnus and his mistress Orinthia as they match wits with a Prime Minister, Proteus, who seeks to strip the monarchy of its remaining political powers. As Shaw puts it succinctly in the Preface it is "a comedy in which a King defeats an attempt by his popularly elected Prime Minister to deprive him of the right to influence public opinion through the press and the platform: in short, to reduce him to a cipher. The King's reply is that rather than be a cipher he will abandon his throne and take his obviously very rosy chance of becoming a popularly elected Prime Minister himself."
[edit] Characters
- Sempronius Civil Servant
- Pamphilius Civil Servant
- Boanerges President of the Board of Trade
- King Magnus
- Orinthia King's Mistress
- Alice Princess Royal
- Proteus Prime Minister
- Pliny Chancellor of the Exchequer
- Nicobar Foreign Secretary
- Crassus Colonial Secretary
- Balbus Home Secretary
- Amanda Postmistress General
- Lysistrata Powermistress General
- Vanhattan American Ambassador
- The Queen
