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
Pygmalion and Galatea (play) have earned him £40,000 during his lifetime. "Pygmalion and Galatea" was so popular that other Pygmalions were rushed to the stage. In January 1872, "Ganymede and Galatea" opened at the Gaiety Theatre. This was a comic version of Franz von Suppé's "Die schöne Galathee", coincidentally with Arthur Sullivan's brother, Fred Sullivan, in the cast. In March 1872, William Brough's "Pygmalion; or, The Statue Fair" was revived, and in May of that year, a visiting French company produced Victor Massé's "Galathée". Gilbert created several blank verse "fairy comedies" at the Haymarket Theatre for John Baldwin Buckstone and starring William Hunter Kendal