Heartbreak House (Shaw Collection, The)

Amazon.com One of the most acclaimed plays by British playwright George Bernard Shaw gets a vivid production in this BBC presentation. Captain Shotover (Sir John Gielgud, Prospero's Books, Arthur), an elderly former sailor, presides over an eccentric household: One of his daughters is the bohemian Hesione (Sian Phillips, I, Claudius), who married the handsome and relentlessly flirtatious Hector (Daniel Massey); the other, Ariadne (Barbara Murray), has rebelled by marrying the most staid and conventional man she could find. Into their household comes a young woman named Ellie (the impossibly lovely Lesley-Anne Down, Hanover Street) engaged to marry a middle-aged tycoon--only the tycoon has fallen in love with Hesione, Ellie has fallen in love with Hector, and Hector is smitten with Ariadne. This tangle of affairs sets in motion many Shavian musings on love, life, the battle of the sexes, and much, much more. Heavily influenced by the Russian playwright Chekov, Heartbreak House lacks the vigorous plotting that drives most of Shaw's best plays; without that narrative engine, the speeches cascade over each other a bit amorphously. But at heart all of Shaw's plays (which include Pygmalion, on which My Fair Lady was based) are orchestrations of moral debates--not conventional morality, but Shaw's idiosyncratic morals, contrary philosophies, pragmatic spiritualities...if the word 'iconoclast' had not existed, someone would have had to invent it to describe Shaw. Though the humor sometimes cries out for a live audience, this television production represents Shaw's heady theatrics with skill and panache. Warning: Some racial comments may ruffle politically correct feathers. --Bret Fetzer Product Description Heartbreak House (Shaw Collection, The) (DVD) This rollicking romp through the minefields of romantic entanglement takes place on the Sussex estate of Captain Shotover, an eccentric poet, retired seafarer and inventor who is reluctantly hosting a weekend house party for his two daughters and their bohemian friends. Vivaciously alive with dangerous flirtations, this game of hearts and philosophies will keep you chasing the key to life and love. ]]>
ASIN: B000E8JNQK
VSKU: 4EKGRJ0061XN_ns
Condition: Good
Binding: DVD
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Condition Notes: Individually inspected: Guaranteed to play perfectly or your money back. Case may show wear and may be in library packaging. Ships Fast!