Tag Archives: George Bernard Shaw

“I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat or a prostitute.” — Rebecca West

It’s her birthday today. It is hard to talk about her without referencing the generations of writers she inspired, all of whom admit their debt. Robert Kaplan is the most open about it (in Balkan Ghosts, which launched his career, … Continue reading

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When proud-pied April, dressed in all his trim, / Hath put a spirit of youth in everything …

Today is (supposedly, roughly) the birthday of William Shakespeare. April 23, 1564. (Title of the post from Sonnet 98.) One of the things I think about when I think about Shakespeare, is my late great teacher Doug Moston, who died … Continue reading

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“Imagination! Imagination! I put it first years ago, when I was asked what qualities I thought necessary for success on the stage.” –Ellen Terry

“It is only in comedy that people seem to know what I am driving at!” — Ellen Terry In 1907, great English actress Ellen Terry (approaching her 50th year onstage) appeared in George Bernard Shaw’s satirical Captain Brassbound’s Conversion. Shaw … Continue reading

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Rejoyce. It’s Bloomsday.

Some men send flowers to commemorate an anniversary. James Joyce wrote Ulysses. Overachiever. On June 15, 1904, young James Joyce sent a note to Nora Barnacle, who was a waitress at Finn’s Hotel. Barnacle (what an apt name) was a … Continue reading

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The Books: Ellen Terry & Bernard Shaw: A Correspondence

Daily Book Excerpt: Memoirs: Next book on the Memoir/Letters/Journals shelf is ELLEN TERRY & BERNARD SHAW: A CORRESPONDENCE., edited by Christopher St. John (a woman, who was the longtime companion of Ellen Terry’s daughter – both formidable women in their … Continue reading

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2010 Books Read

Round-up of the books I read this year, in the order in which I read them. I am nearly finished with one last book (a collection of stories by Miranda July, given to me by my sister Siobhan for my … Continue reading

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Quotes on acting 9: George Bernard Shaw on Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree

I love this because it shows Beerbohm’s inability to be in anything BUT the moment. Rather amusing. I love descriptions of performances that we, in the modern age, actually cannot see. They only existed on the stage, in the performance … Continue reading Continue reading

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Interview with Rebecca West

In 1981, Rebecca West was interviewed by The Paris Review, and it’s included in the first volume of the Paris Review interviews. She was an old woman by that point, 90 years old, living in London. Cataracts had ruined her … Continue reading

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“detesting everything appertaining to Oscar Wilde”

“You must give up detesting everything appertaining to Oscar Wilde or to anyone else. The critic’s first duty is to admit, with absolute respect, the right of every man to his own style.” — George Bernard Shaw to R.E. Golding … Continue reading

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Playing Shakespeare

“Play to the lines, through the lines, but never between the lines. There simply isn’t time for it.” — George Bernard Shaw to actress Ellen Terry on performing Shakespeare, 1896

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