Candida (play)

Candida, a comedy by playwright George Bernard Shaw, was first published in 1898, as part of his Plays Pleasant. The central characters are clergyman James Morell, his wife Candida and a youthful poet, Eugene Marchbanks, who tries to win Candida's affections. The play questions Victorian notions of love and marriage, asking what a woman really desires from her husband. The cleric is a Christian Socialist, allowing Shaw—himself a Fabian Socialist—to weave political issues, current at the time, into the story.

Between 1904 and 1907 The Royal Court Theatre staged several of George Bernard Shaw plays, including Candida.

Characters

In order of appearance
Miss Proserpine Garnett
The Reverend James Mavor Morell
The Reverend Alexander (Lexy) Mill
Mr Burgess
Candida
Eugene Marchbanks

Plot

The play is set in the north-east suburbs of London in the month of October. It tells the story of Candida, the wife of a first-rate clergyman, the Reverend James Mavor Morell. Morell is a Christian Socialist, popular in the Church of England, but Candida is responsible for much of his success. Candida returns home briefly from a trip to London with Eugene Marchbanks, a young poet who wants to rescue her from what he presumes to be her dull family life. Marchbanks is in love with Candida and believes she deserves something more than just complacency from her husband. He considers her divine, and his love eternal. In his view, it is quite improper and humiliating for Candida to have to attend to petty household chores. Morell believes Candida needs his care and protection, but the truth is quite the contrary. Ultimately, Candida must choose between the two gentlemen. She reasserts her preference for the "weaker of the two" who, after a momentary uncertainty, turns out to be her husband Morrell.

Criticism and interpretation

In Bernard Shaw and the Aesthetes, Elsie Bonita Adams has given this assessment of Marchbanks, comparing him to two real-life artists:

Though Marchbanks has many of the external characteristics and some of the attitudes of the aesthete-artist such as Sholto Douglas or Adrian Herbert, he does not pay mere lip-service to art, his sensitivity is no pose, and he tries to rid himself of illusions.

Adaptations

A Court Theatre Company production starring JoBeth Williams and Tom Amandes was recorded by the L.A. Theatre Works.

In 2003 the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation broadcast a production of the play.

An Oxford Stage Company production of Candida toured the UK in 2004, with Andrew Havill as Morell, Serena Evans as Candida, and Richard Glaves as Marchbanks.

In February 2009 BBC Radio 7 broadcast a radio adaptation of the play starring Hannah Gordon as "Candida" and Edward Petherbridge as the Reverend James Morell.

Famed actress Katharine Cornell played the lead role on Broadway in five different productions, the last four were for her own production company. She was the actress most closely associated with this role, and Shaw stated that she had created "an ideal British Candida in my imagination" as she essentially re-evisioned the role of Candida, making her the central character in the play. Previously, Candida was not conceived by directors or actresses as important as the issues and themes that Shaw was trying to convey. The first time she played the role in 1924, she was so acclaimed that The Actors' Guild, which controlled the production rights to the play in the United States, forbade any other actress from playing the role while Cornell was still alive. In her final production of 1946, a young Marlon Brando played the role of Marchbanks.

In 2009 Writers' Theatre presented a musical adaptation of the play with music by Josh Schmidt; lyrics by Jan Tranen; book by Austin Pendleton; conceived and directed by Artistic Director Michael Halberstam. The production was critically acclaimed and in 2011 Lincoln Center mounted a new production of the piece (also directed by Michael Halberstam). The production featured Kate Fry as Candida; Bobby Steggert as Marchbanks; Marc Kudisch as Morell; Liz Baltes as Prossy; and Drew Gehling as Lexy. The production received outstanding notices in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. An original cast recording from PS Classics was released on August 30.

External links

• Candida at Project Gutenberg

Candida (play) at the Internet Broadway Database