Pygmalion by NHS Drama

The Newtown High School Drama Club will perform George Bernard Shaw’s classic play “Pygmalion” November 18-20 in the Newtown High School auditorium.  Directed by NHS seniors Sarah Desrosiers and Autumn Jones, the play follows phonetics professor Henry Higgins as he tries to transform Eliza Doolittle, a “rough-around-the-edges” Cockney flower girl, into a duchess by teaching her to speak proper English.    

Produced for the first time in New York in 1914, “Pygmalion” is  Shaw’s most popular play.  In served as the inspiration for the 1956 musical “My Fair Lady,” which was brought to the big screen in 1964.  The play’s exploration of how language, manners and appearance impact the way an individual is viewed is applicable even today, as we consider the various languages that have emerged as a result of technology. 

Senior Alexandra Aug stars as Eliza, with junior Thomas Primavera as Henry Higgins.  The intimate cast of twelve also includes seniors Ishaar Gupta, Nora Murphy and Luke Shearin, juniors Melanie Curtis, Josh Goldman, and Jesse Pasacreta, sophomores Sami Chanko, Kirsten Liniger and Jeff Haylon, and freshman Katie Wolff.   

The set was designed and built by NHS students under the supervision of NHS teacher Tom Swetts and student Technical Director Colby Chilson.     

Performances in the Newtown High School auditorium begin Friday, November 18 at 7:30 pm, and continue Saturday, November 19 at 7:30 pm, and Sunday, November 20 at 2:30 pm.  Tickets are $10 and are available at the door.