City Stage New West Presents SHAW SHORTS!

City Stage New West presents an evening of Shaw Shorts!, with How He Lied to Her Husband by George Bernard Shaw, and Love Letters to Mrs. Patrick Campbell, edited and arranged from historical correspondence between Shaw and Campbell by Renée Bucciarelli. Enter the Edwardian drawing room-and boxing ring-of George Bernard Shaw's How He Lied to Her Husband, brought sumptuously to life at the exquisite Galbraith Manor. When the gloves come off He, She, and Her Husband hilariously duke it out--but will they survive the match? This gem of a bedroom farce parodies some of Shaw's own real-life shenanigans, as Love Letters to Mrs. Patrick Campbell amply reveals. Shaw Shorts! stars Renee Buciarelli (Honest Fishmonger's King Lear), Luc Roderique (Bard on the Beach, Othello) and veteran theatre actor Simon Webb (Blackbird Theatre, Waiting for Godot), with direction by Laura McLean (Delinquent Theatre, Stationary). The show runs January 24th to February 5th at New Westminster's historic Galbraith House.

Due to the expense and rigors of producing his typically large-cast shows, Shaw's work is not often seen, yet he remains a great favourite with audiences and artists delighted by his rare wit and canny observations of the human condition. In the one-act How He Lied to Her Husband, a lesser-known, hilarious bedroom farce, Shaw parodies one of his own early plays, Candida--a success which evidently inspired "Candidamania" at the time. In Love Letters to Mrs. Patrick Campbell, artistic director Renee Bucciarelli has culled excerpts from hundreds of scandalously revealing historical love letters between Shaw and Beatrice Stella Campbell--one of the great theatrical stars/producers of her time--to create a perfect companion piece to How He Lied to Her Husband. Real life on- and off-stage shenanigans abound in the course of their passionate, creative, and challenging relationship, shedding light on Shaw's work, creative process, and sources of inspiration.

"I am so glad that City Stage New West exists. As a resident of Kitsilano, it's a schlep to get out there. But it's worth it. Renee Bucciarelli and her team are passionate about building the theatre community and creating good work." - Danielle Benzon

George Bernard Shaw was a literary giant of astonishing range whose modern ideas shocked Victorian sensibilities and influenced political and cultural thought. The only Nobel Prize laureate to also win an Academy Award, he prolifically wrote music, art, and theatre criticism, social, religious, and political commentary, and plays that, according to his greatest biographer, combined a "mixture of rare sense and inspired nonsense that the world has come to refer to as Shavian" (Michael Holroyd). He is considered one of the greatest English playwrights.

Director Laura McLean is the co-founder and co-Artistic Director of Delinquent Theatre. Previous directing credits with Delinquent Theatre include Never the Last, STATIONARY: a recession era musical, Oh My God, Spring Awakening, and Our Time for which she won a Jessie Award. Other selected directing credits include Dry Land (Rumble Theatre), Crimes of the Heart (Bright Young Theatre), He Roars (ProVan Productions), Little One (Bristol Old Vic Theatre School), The Shape of Things (The Guild Theatre, Yukon), and Sacred and Profane (Assaulted Fish Sketch Comedy). She also works teaching theatre and as a Dramaturg. She has her BFA in Theatre from UBC and her Masters in Directing from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. She is the recipient of the 2015 Elsa Roberts Directing Prize.

Shaw Shorts! Presented by City Stage West, directed by Laura McLean | Venue: Galbraith House, 131 Eighth Street, New Westminster | Map: http://goo.gl/maps/z5moq | Box Office: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2716145 |Run: January 24-February 5 - 7:30pm, 2pm matinees on Jan 28, 29, Feb 4 & 5. | More: http://www.citystagenewwest.org/

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