Dear Liar At The Shaw Festival
I was somewhat distressed to note that this season the Shaw Festival is only presenting one play by their namesake playwright, Major Barbara, which opens relatively late in the season. So Dear Liar by Jerome Kilty, presented in the intimate Spiegeltent, is especially welcome.
Based on the voluminous correspondence between George Bernard Shaw and Mrs. Patrick Campbell, Dear Liar chronicles Shaw’s lifelong association and romantic obsession with the celebrated actress, who is now largely forgotten. It gives us another opportunity to hear Shaw’s voice and savor his wit.
When Shaw was an upcoming but still struggling playwright, Mrs. Campbell, as she was invariably known, was a major star. When in 1914, arguably too old for the part, she made a major success as the first Eliza Doolittle, they were both bold faced names. Later in their lives, when Shaw was a fabulously successful international sensation, Mrs. Campbell’s star was on the wane.
Along the way, the married Shaw fell hopelessly in love. Was the feeling reciprocated? It’s hard to tell. Mrs. Campbell clearly admired Shaw and treasured their friendship, but did she love him?
It would certainly seem that Shaw remained smitten. But when on the heels of her smashing success as Eliza in Pygmalion Mrs. Campbell remarried, something changed. While Shaw claimed that he wrote his major female parts hearing her voice, he never again offered Mrs. Campbell a leading role.
We certainly know that the relationship was never consummated and Shaw never divorced his wife. Did her feelings stop well short of love? Or did this canny actress know that an open relationship with a married man spelled career suicide?
As Shaw’s fortunes waxed those of the aging Mrs. Campbell waned. She died, impoverished, in the south of France in 1940 as she was fleeing the German advance in World War II.
With its emphasis on aging and decline, Dear Liar is a downbeat tale and those of a “certain age” (it’s a truism that today’s theatre audience is <ahem> elderly) will find it striking close to home. Shaw’s last line in the play is “Too old. Too old. Too old.”
Those who are “in the business,” as show folk like to say, or who know people who are, will inevitably be touched by the story of a once glamorous actress whose job offers have faded along with her looks.
Dear Liar has been “created and performed by” Marla McLean and Graeme Somerville. In other words, the two actors in this two-hander have directed themselves and overseen the production as a whole. In other hands that might have been a recipe for overindulgence. Not so with these two pros.
Dear Liar is often staged with two actors at podiums (or should I say podia?). McLean and Somerville take maximum advantage of the Spielgeltent’s in-the-round configuration. They are in almost constant motion. Virtually everyone in the audience has the opportunity to observe some of the best acting available in Canada up close and personal.
And by the way the witty lighting by Jeff Pybus was a fitting match for the nimble performances of the two principals.
McLean and Somerville are among the Shaw Festival’s finest performers and what a gift it is to see them in such an intimate setting.
Marla McLean is one of Shaw’s most accomplished actresses and I have been a longtime devotee of her work. I especially cherished the opportunity to see her spin her magic while sitting mere feet away. And yes, when she mourned the death of her only son in World War I, those tears were real.
Graeme Somerville is one of those protean talents who seems incapable of making a false move on the stage. A veteran of some 41 Shaw productions, he is virtually a national treasure and the possessor of one of the most sonorous voices in the business.
Speaking of which, my sole criticism of Dear Liar was that the show was miked. Surely, in such close quarters, given two performers who are in complete control of their “instruments” that was not necessary.
Milton once said he wrote “Paradise Lost” to reconcile the ways of God to man. I firmly believe that the goal of all art is to reconcile us to our humanity and thus to our mortality. Dear Liar, in this inspired production, certainly does that.
Dear Liar continues at the Spiegeltent through September 27, 2025. For more information and to purchase tickets visit the Shaw Festival website.
Footnote: The Spiegeltent offers open seating on two levels. If you opt for the more expensive lower level you will be well advised to arrive early, shortly after the house opens. That way you will be able to snag a seat at the front, ensuring the most intimate experience in this most intimate production.
For a complete index of reviews CLICK HERE.
Don’t miss another review or blog post! SUBSCRIBE HERE
