Pygmalion (play) Pygmalion (play) Pygmalion is a play by George Bernard Shaw, named after a Greek mythological figure. It was first presented on stage to the public in 1913. In ancient Greek mythology, Pygmalion fell in love with one of his sculptures, which then came to life. The general idea of that myth was a popular subject for Victorian era English playwrights, including one of Shaw's influences, W. S. Gilbert, who wrote a successful play based on the story called "Pygmalion and Galatea" that was first presented in 1871. Shaw would also have been familiar with the burlesque version, "Galatea, or Pygmalion
John Baldwin Buckstone Palace of Truth" (1870), "Pygmalion and Galatea" (1871) and "The Wicked World" (1873). Buckstone also produced Gilbert's dramas, "Charity" (1874) and "Dan'l Druce, Blacksmith" (1876), as well as his 1877 farce "Engaged". In 1873 Buckstone introduced the innovation of matinées starting at 2.00 pm. By the mid-1870s, however, Buckstone's company was disbanding, and in 1877, ill and bankrupt after sustaining heavy losses, he gave up management of the theatre. Buckstone was first married in 1828 to Anne Maria Honeyman, with whom he had at least five children before she died in 1844. For many years, Buckstone was closely associated with