Editing Man and Superman (section)

== Interpretation and performances ==

=== Don Juan Play ===
The long third act of the play, which shows Don Juan himself having a conversation with several characters in [[Hell]], is often cut. Charles A. Berst observes of Act III:

<blockquote>Paradoxically, the act is both extraneous and central to the drama which surrounds it. It can be dispensed with, and usually is, on grounds that it is just too long to include in an already full-length play. More significantly, it is in some aspects a digression, operates in a different mode from the rest of the material, delays the immediate well-made story line, and much of its subject matter is already implicit in the rest of the play. The play performs well without it.<ref name=extra>{{cite book|last=Berst|first=Charles A.|title=Bernard Shaw and the Art of Drama|url=https://archive.org/details/bernardshawartof0000bers|url-access=registration|year=1973|publisher=University of Illinois Press|location=Chicago|isbn=0-252-00258-X|page=[https://archive.org/details/bernardshawartof0000bers/page/126 126]}}</ref></blockquote>

''Don Juan in Hell'' consists of a philosophical debate between Don Juan (played by the same actor who plays Jack Tanner), and the [[Devil]], with Doña Ana (Ann) and the [[Statue]] of Don Gonzalo, Ana's father (Roebuck Ramsden) looking on. This third act is often performed separately as a play in its own right, most famously during the 1950s in a stage production featuring [[Charles Boyer]] as Don Juan, [[Charles Laughton]] as the Devil, [[Cedric Hardwicke]] as the Commander and [[Agnes Moorehead]] as Doña Ana.<ref>Shaw, Bernard, ''Don Juan in Hell'', New York: Dodd, Mead & Company (no date given, except renewal copyright 1931) (with photographs from the stage production).</ref> This version was also released as a [[spoken word album]] on [[LP record|LP]], but is yet to appear on CD. In 1974–1975, [[Kurt Kasznar]], [[Myrna Loy]], [[Edward Mulhare]] and [[Ricardo Montalbán]] toured nationwide in [[John Houseman]]'s reprise of the production, playing 158 cities in six months.<ref>Loy, Myrna, and James Kotsilibas-Davis, ''Being and Becoming''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1987; {{ISBN|0-394-55593-7}}  pp. 339–340</ref>

=== Ideas ===
Although ''Man and Superman'' can be performed as a light [[comedy of manners]], Shaw intended the drama to be something much deeper, as suggested by the title, which comes from [[Friedrich Nietzsche]]'s philosophical ideas about the "[[Übermensch]]" (although Shaw distances himself from Nietzsche by placing the philosopher at the very end of a long list of influences).<ref name=dedication/><ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Pasley|editor1-first=Malcolm|editor-link=Malcolm Pasley|title=Nietzsche: Imagery and Thought: A Collection of Essays|date=1978|publisher=University of California Press|location=Oakland, California|isbn=978-0-520-03577-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/nietzscheimagery00pasl/page/246 246]|url=https://archive.org/details/nietzscheimagery00pasl/page/246}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Billington|first1=Michael|title=Man and Superman review – Ralph Fiennes masters Shaw's contrary male|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/feb/26/man-and-superman-review-ralph-fiennes-national-theatre|work=The Guardian|date=26 February 2015|quote=Shaw…holding the mirror up to Nietzsche}}</ref> As Shaw notes in his "Epistle Dedicatory" (dedication to theatre critic [[Arthur Bingham Walkley]]) he wrote the play as "a pretext for a propaganda of our own views of life".<ref name=dedication>''Man and Superman'' dedication</ref> The plot centres on John Tanner, author of "The Revolutionist's Handbook and Pocket Companion", which is published with the play as a 58-page appendix. Both in the play and in the "Handbook" Shaw takes Nietzsche's theme that mankind is evolving, through [[natural selection]], towards "superman" and develops the argument to suggest that the prime mover in selection is the woman: Ann Whitefield makes persistent efforts to entice Tanner to marry her yet he remains a bachelor. As Shaw himself puts it: "Don Juan had changed his sex and become Dona Juana, breaking out of the Doll's House and asserting herself as an individual".<ref name=dedication/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Singh|first1=Devendra Kumar|title=The idea of the superman in the plays of G. B. Shaw|date=1994|publisher=Atlantic Publishers and Distributors|location=New Delhi|isbn=8171563902|pages=18–21}}</ref> This is an explicit, intended reversal of [[Tirso de Molina]]'s play ''[[The Trickster of Seville and the Stone Guest]]'', more widely known as the source of [[Lorenzo Da Ponte|Da Ponte's]] ''[[Don Giovanni]]''; here Ann, representing Doña Ana, is the predator – "Don Juan is the quarry instead of the huntsman," as Shaw notes.<ref name=dedication/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Grey|first1=Thomas S|editor1-last=Goehr|editor1-first=Lydia|editor2-last=Herwitz|editor2-first=Daniel|title=The Don Giovanni moment : essays on the legacy of an opera|date=2008|publisher=Columbia University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0231137553|page=100}}</ref>

Ann is referred to as "the [[Energy (esotericism)|Life Force]]" and represents Shaw's view that in every culture, it is the women who force the men to marry them rather than the men who take the initiative.<ref name=dedication/> Sally Peters Vogt proposes: "Thematically, the fluid Don Juan myth becomes a favorable milieu for [[George Bernard Shaw#CITEREFReligion: Creative Revolutionary: Time, December 1950|Creative Evolution]]", and that "the legend&nbsp;... becomes in ''Man and Superman'' the vehicle through which Shaw communicates his cosmic philosophy".<ref name=creative>Vogt, Sally Peters. "Ann and Superman: Type and Archetype". In ''Modern Critical Views: George Bernard Shaw'', edited with an introduction by [[Harold Bloom]]. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. p. 221.</ref>

=== Productions ===
In 1905, the [[Hudson Theatre]] produced the play for 192 performances. Produced by [[Charles Dillingham]]. 

In 1917, the [[Abbey Theatre]] produced the play for 7 performances. The production was directed by J. Augustus Keogh.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.abbeytheatre.ie/archives/production_detail/942|title=Man and Superman 1917 (Abbey) {{!}} Abbey Archives {{!}} Abbey Theatre – Amharclann na Mainistreach|website=Abbey Theatre|language=en|access-date=2020-01-01}}</ref>

In 1925, the Abbey Theatre produced the play for seven performances. The production was directed by Michael J. Dolan.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.abbeytheatre.ie/archives/production_detail/3006|title=Man and Superman 1925 (Abbey) {{!}} Abbey Archives {{!}} Abbey Theatre – Amharclann na Mainistreach|website=Abbey Theatre|language=en|access-date=2020-01-01}}</ref>

In 1927, the Abbey Theatre produced the play for seven performances. The production was directed by [[Lennox Robinson]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.abbeytheatre.ie/archives/production_detail/3118|title=Man and Superman 1927 (Abbey) {{!}} Abbey Archives {{!}} Abbey Theatre – Amharclann na Mainistreach|website=Abbey Theatre|language=en|access-date=2020-01-01}}</ref>

In 1946, the [[BBC Third Programme]] broadcast the entire play over the wireless for the first time. The production was directed by Peter Watts. It starred John Garside, [[Leonard Sachs]], [[Sebastian Shaw (actor)|Sebastian Shaw]], [[Grizelda Hervey]] amongst others.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=1973|title=Sebastian Shaw, Griselda Hervey, and Esme Percy in the first broadcast performance in its entirety of Bernard Shaw's Man and Superman|journal=Radio Times|volume=50th Anniversary Souvenir Edition|pages=74}}</ref>

In 1968, the BBC adapted the play for television as a ''[[Play of the Month#Man and Superman|Play of the Month]]''. Only a short sequence from this play still exists.

In 1977–1978, the [[Royal Shakespeare Company|RSC]] produced the play at London's [[Savoy Theatre]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://theatricalia.com/play/aq/man-and-superman/production/b2k|title=Production of Man and Superman – Theatricalia|website=theatricalia.com|access-date=8 April 2018}}</ref>

In 1981, London's [[Royal National Theatre|National Theatre]] staged a production, with the "Don Juan in Hell" act included, directed by [[Christopher Morahan]] and starring [[Daniel Massey (actor)|Daniel Massey]] as Jack Tanner and [[Penelope Wilton]] as Ann Whitefield.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://theatricalia.com/play/aq/man-and-superman/production/pna|title=Production of Man and Superman – Theatricalia|website=theatricalia.com|access-date=June 29, 2020}}</ref>

In 1982, director [[David Wheeler (stage director)|David Wheeler]] staged a production at the [[Charles Playhouse]] in Boston, starring [[Richard Jordan]] and [[Diane Salinger]].  During rehearsals, the play was gradually whittled down to a three-hour length, but the "Don Juan in Hell" sequence survived intact.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Clay |first1=Carolyn |title=The spouse trap |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_boston-phoenix_1982-01-26_11_4/page/n60/mode/1up |access-date=9 July 2024 |work=The Boston Phoenix |date=26 January 1982}}</ref>

In 1982, a television version with [[Peter O'Toole]] in the starring role and [[Barry Morse]] as The Devil was first broadcast in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121516/|title=Man and Superman|date=10 October 1982|access-date=8 April 2018|via=www.imdb.com}}</ref>

In 1990, [[South Coast Repertory]] in [[Costa Mesa, California]] staged a production, with the "Don Juan in Hell" act included, directed by Martin Benson and starring [[John de Lancie]] as Jack Tanner and his wife Marnie Mosiman as Ann Whitefield.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-09-04-ca-638-story.html|title=THEATER : South Coast Rep Takes on 'Man and Superman' : * the play, Shaw's longest and most ambitious, is rarely staged whole. But director Martin Benson finds the idea of staging only one part "unthinkable." |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=4 September 1990 }}</ref>

In 1996, to celebrate [[BBC Radio 3]]'s 50th Anniversary, [[Peter Hall (director)|Sir Peter Hall]] directed an audio production with [[Ralph Fiennes]] as Jack Tanner, [[Judi Dench]] as Mrs. Whitefield, [[John Wood (English actor)|John Wood]] as Mendoza, [[Juliet Stevenson]] as Ann Whitefield, [[Nicholas Le Prevost]] as Octavius Robinson and [[Jack Davenport]] as Hector Malone.

In 2012, the [[Irish Repertory Theatre]] and Gingold Theatrical Group presented a revival directed and adapted by [[David Staller]] and starring [[Max Gordon Moore]] as Jack Tanner.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://irishrep.org/show/2011-2012-season/man-and-superman/|title=Man and Superman – Irish Repertory Theatre|website=irishrep.org|access-date=8 April 2018}}</ref>

In 2015, London's [[Royal National Theatre|National Theatre]] staged a production, with the "Don Juan in Hell" act included, directed by [[Simon Godwin]] and starring [[Ralph Fiennes]] as Jack Tanner and [[Indira Varma]] as Ann Whitefield.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Clapp|first1=Susannah|author-link=Susannah Clapp |title=Man and Superman review – Ralph Fiennes towers as Shaw's Don Juan|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/mar/01/man-and-superman-lyttelton-observer-review-ralph-fiennes|access-date=7 May 2015|work=[[The Observer]]|date=1 March 2015}}</ref>

In 2019, Canada's [[Shaw Festival]] staged the full production with [[Martha Burns]] as Mendoza/The Devil, Gray Powell as Jack Tanner and [[Sara Topham]] as Ann.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.shawfest.com/playbill/man-and-superman/|title=Shaw Festival – Man and Superman|work=Shaw Festival Theatre |access-date=September 14, 2019}}</ref>