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
Viktor Krylov Viktor Krylov Viktor Alexandrovich Krylov (, 2 February 1838 — 13 March 1908) was a Russian playwright (who occasionally used the pen name Viktor Alexandrov), theatre critic, librettist, Imperial Theatres official and one of the major contributors to the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary. Born in Moscow to a lawyer, Krylov studied at the Moscow Engineering College where he became friends with César Cui. He started out as a lyricist and co-authored several romances with Cui, and later, in 1857—1859 wrote the librettos for his operas "Prisoner of the Caucasus", "William Ratcliff" and "The Mandarin's Son". In 1858 Krylov debuted