MORNINGTON, VIC. — Mornington Peninsula Theatre Company (MPtc) presents a radical, refreshing interpretation of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, edited, designed and directed by Artistic Director Jonty Reason.
While retaining its traditional Edwardian setting, this production infuses the classic text with distinctly modern sensibilities, shifting the focus entirely to Eliza Doolittle’s agency.
Eliza may start her journey as a mere pawn in an aristocratic wager, but she soon comes to realise that she is a resilient, forward-thinking woman, and she quickly learns to navigate the rigid class system with sharp intelligence and a ready wit.
Henry Higgins’s phonetic lessons are not a magical transformation, but tools that Eliza consciously exploits to secure her own social mobility. Language becomes her chosen weapon, used deliberately to dismantle the patriarchal boundaries holding her back. It is every bit as sharply funny as Shaw’s original but brought up to date for a modern audience.
The climax strips away any romantic illusion, highlighting Eliza’s ultimate prize: total autonomy. She emerges not as a polished doll for society’s amusement, but as a fiercely independent woman who owns her future.
MPtc masterfully transforms a century-old story into a timeless triumph of female self-determination.
