Major Barbara At The Shaw Festival
I keep forgetting how deliciously witty, falling down funny, and eternally topical George Bernard Shaw’s Major Barbara is. Fortunately, the Shaw Festival remounts it from time to time to remind us.
The current revival, the first since 2013, is helmed by Peter Hinton-Davis. It may not be the definitive Major Barbara, but its virtues far outweigh its minor flaws, making it worth revisiting for Shaw devotees and a must-see for those who haven’t had the pleasure.
Set in the early years of the last century, Major Barbara recounts the internal divisions of the, shall we say, dysfunctional Undershaft family. Andrew Undershaft (Patrick Galligan) is a fabulously wealthy arms manufacturer and merchant of death, whose firm provides a dizzying array of weaponry to whomever will pay for it. His estranged wife, the somewhat less fabulously wealthy Britomart (Fiona Byrne), frets over how she will support her grown children.
Stephen (Taurian Teelucksingh), her eldest, is unemployed and idle as befits an English gentleman. Her daughter Barbara (Gabriella Sundar Singh) has spurned her privileged upbringing and is busily engaged in serving the poor and saving souls as “Major Barbara” in the Salvation Army. She is engaged to Adolphus “Dolly” Cusins (André Morin), a scholar of ancient Greek, who has joined the Salvation Army to pursue her. Then there is Sarah (Lindsay Wu) who is engaged to the none-too-bright Charles Lomax (Sepehr Reybod) who will come into a fortune when he turns 35.
Desperate for funds – her father is an earl scraping by on a mere £7,000 a year, the equivalent of $1,800,000 Canadian dollars today – Britomart is reduced to summoning her ex to beg for his largesse.
The reentry of Andrew, who barely recognizes his offspring, sets off one of those immensely entertaining dramatized debates among conflicting visions of what the world should be that is Shaw’s stock in trade.
Horrified that her father believes the only two things necessary for salvation are money and gunpowder, “Major” Barbara challenges him to visit her mission in London’s East End. He agrees on the condition that she and the rest of his brood then visit his vast arms manufactory. And so, as Holmes would have it, the game is afoot.
At the mission, Mrs. Baines (Patty Jamieson), a Salvation Army Commissioner, arrives with the good news of a contribution of £5,000 pledged by the maker of Bodger’s whiskey on the condition that the Army raise another £5,000 in matching contributions. Amused, Undershaft writes a cheque for the remainder, if only for the pleasure of making old Bodger pay up.
Major Barbara is horrified that her beloved Salvation Army would accept tainted money from a distiller and an arms merchant. Her faith destroyed, she abandons the mission.
At the arms factory, which seems to bedazzle the Undershaft clan, Undershaft and Cusins engage in a spirited argument about morality, power, and social change. This scene is Shaw at his best and is reason enough to grab a ticket to Major Barbara.
In the end, Cusins comes round to the understanding that idealism without power is useless. But will his beloved Major Barbara agree?
Hinton-Davis has mounted a sleek, stripped-down, almost abstract rendering of Major Barbara. It’s a canny decision considering the limitations of the Royal George stage. (I would love to see a production at Shaw’s Festival Theatre with a substantial budget for sets. Maybe next time.)
Hinton-Davis is prone to the occasional odd directorial flourish, like having a character sit at the edge of the stage during the second act and strike a gong from time to time. For the most part, fortunately, his choices are more successful.
For example, he has interpolated Shaw’s devilishly clever parody of the Lord’s prayer [https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/40681060.pdf] into the text. It suits Major Barbara perfectly.
He bookmarks the openings and closing of each act with a beautifully sung interlude by the entire cast. Patty Jamieson’s powerful voice is particularly impressive. If this acting thing doesn’t work out, this ensemble has a future as a choral group. The original music is by Allen Cole and very nice indeed.
I also appreciated the way in which Hinton-Davis uses the house to evoke the immensity of Undershaft’s munitions factory. The visiting Undershaft family members were scattered along the side aisles of the orchestra and even the balcony.
Gillian Gallow has contributed a handsome, minimalist, blue-walled set with tall steps on either side of the stage leading to exits and just a few pieces of contemporary furniture, also blue. She makes a few grand gestures, such as a massive mural in Britomart’s drawing room inspired by Kate Bunch’s 1895 painting, “Musica,” but for the most part she keeps it simple and austere. While the set seems ultra modern, her costumes are perfectly of the period.
The otherwise effective lighting by Bonny Beecher has trouble keeping up with Hinton-Davis’ blocking. Characters have a disconcerting way of crossing out of and into their light as they move about.
The performances are something of a mixed bag, but where it really counts, they are terrific. Patrick Galligan’s Undershaft is absolutely smashing. Never has a ruthless capitalist seemed so charming. If you were fortunate enough to see his performance as the randy coachman in Tom Stoppard’s On The Razzle in 2023 you will have some appreciation of his impressive range as an actor.
André Morin is a perfect foil for Undershaft in the confrontation at the munitions factory. Shaw made the character a scholar of ancient Greek for a reason, and Morin makes good use of the philosophical gravitas that implies.
Gabriella Sundar Singh gives us an appealingly spunky Major Barbara. Unfortunately, Hinton-Davis has allowed, or perhaps encouraged her to shout and overdo at more dramatic junctures in the script.
Fiona Byrne has fun doubling as the ultra upper-crusty Britomart and as Rummy Mitchens, a respectable but impoverished East End denizen posing as a fallen woman to cadge a free meal at the Salvation Army mission. As Charles Lomax, Sepehr Reybod falls well short of the upper class twit Shaw wrote, but he fares much better as Bill Walker, a brutal thug who shows up at Major Barbara’s mission.
Major Barbara is immensely entertaining, containing as it does some of Shaw’s best lines. Jokes like “He knows nothing; and he thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career,” will probably still be funny after everyone reading this is mouldering in their graves.
There are those who think that Shaw plays are “talky.” True enough perhaps but, oh, what talk! If you’ve never seen a Shaw play, Major Barbara offers an excellent opportunity to see if his particular brand of sophisticated repartee is for you.
Major Barbara continues at the Royal George Theatre through October 5, 2025. For more information and to purchase tickets visit the Shaw Festival website.
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