Brendan Moir's Playwright Corner

"Mrs. Warren's Profession" is one of the greater testaments to George Bernard Shaw's love of controversy and getting at the heart of issues plaguing man-kind, so much so that it was banned from being performed by the Lord Chamberlain for more than 30 years, ironically further proving its critique of Victorian Society. "Mrs. Warren's Profession" is a story of compromise, and how that compromise develops into corruption, subtly changing the life of everyone involved (directly or indirectly) in an ever excusable, morally justified manner. And yet, through Mr. Shaw's effervescent wit, the play is never too bogged down by its subject matter, and has such an unmistakable gaiety about it all that it's hard not to laugh at the absurdity of society's overbearing nature.Follow me on other platforms:https://bemuse.bandcamp.comhttps://www.instagram.com/talentunlimited1/?hl=enhttps://open.spotify.com/artist/0wiNjFbd6rluEHZF4Qffcvhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100070481824821&locale=hi_INhttps://www.patreon.com/bemuseWebsite: https://bemusearts.com*This Season's Album Art by Illuvisual*George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 1880s to his death and beyond. He wrote more than sixty plays, including major works such as Man and Superman (1902), Pygmalion (1913) and Saint Joan (1923). With a range incorporating both contemporary satire and historical allegory, Shaw became the leading dramatist of his generation, and in 1925 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.Born in Dublin, Shaw moved to London in 1876; he struggled to establish himself as a writer and novelist, and embarked on a rigorous process of self-education. By the mid-1880s he had become a respected theatre and music critic. Following a political awakening, he joined the gradualist Fabian Society and became its most prominent pamphleteer. Shaw had been writing plays for years before his first public success, Arms and the Man in 1894. Influenced by Henrik Ibsen, he sought to introduce a new realism into English-language drama, using his plays as vehicles to disseminate his political, social and religious ideas. By the early twentieth century his reputation as a dramatist was secured with a series of critical and popular successes that included Major Barbara, The Doctor's Dilemma, and Caesar and Cleopatra.*Any views/ideas expressed in these plays are not my own, and I do not believe in the censoring of anything controversial or problematic that the playwright/poet/author has written which will impact the way in which the story is told. The integrity of these works is much more important to me than any triggering content, and therefore I would ask that you have the same maturity and mental framework to listen to these pieces and appreciate them in their proper historical context.*

"The Watched Pot" is a three-act comedic play written by Saki in collaboration with Charles Maude. It centers around the inhabitants of Briony manor either scheming or enacting the scheme of marrying the only inheritor of the estate, Trevor Bavvel, before his tyrant of a mother, Hortensia Bavvel, becomes aware of the covert usurpment of her power. The play humorously explores the pressure placed on everyone in the manor as various potential brides are paraded before him, while Trevor remains indifferent and hesitant. While, "the watched pot never boils," lighting a fire under these societal expectations of Edwardian society makes the resulting action of this play as dynamic as a mountain of gunpowder.Follow me on other platforms:https://bemuse.bandcamp.comhttps://www.instagram.com/talentunlimited1/?hl=enhttps://open.spotify.com/artist/0wiNjFbd6rluEHZF4Qffcvhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100070481824821&locale=hi_INhttps://www.patreon.com/bemuseWebsite: https://bemusearts.com*This Season's Album Art by Illuvisual*Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), popularly known by his pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirize Edwardian society and culture. He is considered by English teachers and scholars a master of the short story and is often compared to O. Henry and Dorothy Parker. Influenced by Oscar Wilde, Lewis Carroll and Rudyard Kipling, Munro himself influenced A. A. Milne, Noël Coward and P. G. Wodehouse.Besides his short stories (which were first published in newspapers, as was customary at the time, and then collected into several volumes), Munro wrote a full-length play, The Watched Pot, in collaboration with Charles Maude; two one-act plays; a historical study, The Rise of the Russian Empire (the only book published under his own name); a short novel, The Unbearable Bassington; the episodic The Westminster Alice (a parliamentary parody of Alice in Wonderland); and When William Came, subtitled A Story of London Under the Hohenzollerns, a fantasy about a future German invasion and occupation of Britain.*Any views/ideas expressed in these plays are not my own, and I do not believe in the censoring of anything controversial or problematic that the playwright/poet/author has written which will impact the way in which the story is told. The integrity of these works is much more important to me than any triggering content, and therefore I would ask that you have the same maturity and mental framework to listen to these pieces and appreciate them in their proper historical context.*

"The Watched Pot" is a three-act comedic play written by Saki in collaboration with Charles Maude. It centers around the inhabitants of Briony manor either scheming or enacting the scheme of marrying the only inheritor of the estate, Trevor Bavvel, before his tyrant of a mother, Hortensia Bavvel, becomes aware of the covert usurpment of her power. The play humorously explores the pressure placed on everyone in the manor as various potential brides are paraded before him, while Trevor remains indifferent and hesitant. While, "the watched pot never boils," lighting a fire under these societal expectations of Edwardian society makes the resulting action of this play as dynamic as a mountain of gunpowder.Follow me on other platforms:https://bemuse.bandcamp.comhttps://www.instagram.com/talentunlimited1/?hl=enhttps://open.spotify.com/artist/0wiNjFbd6rluEHZF4Qffcvhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100070481824821&locale=hi_INhttps://www.patreon.com/bemuseWebsite: https://bemusearts.com*This Season's Album Art by Illuvisual*Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), popularly known by his pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirize Edwardian society and culture. He is considered by English teachers and scholars a master of the short story and is often compared to O. Henry and Dorothy Parker. Influenced by Oscar Wilde, Lewis Carroll and Rudyard Kipling, Munro himself influenced A. A. Milne, Noël Coward and P. G. Wodehouse.Besides his short stories (which were first published in newspapers, as was customary at the time, and then collected into several volumes), Munro wrote a full-length play, The Watched Pot, in collaboration with Charles Maude; two one-act plays; a historical study, The Rise of the Russian Empire (the only book published under his own name); a short novel, The Unbearable Bassington; the episodic The Westminster Alice (a parliamentary parody of Alice in Wonderland); and When William Came, subtitled A Story of London Under the Hohenzollerns, a fantasy about a future German invasion and occupation of Britain.*Any views/ideas expressed in these plays are not my own, and I do not believe in the censoring of anything controversial or problematic that the playwright/poet/author has written which will impact the way in which the story is told. The integrity of these works is much more important to me than any triggering content, and therefore I would ask that you have the same maturity and mental framework to listen to these pieces and appreciate them in their proper historical context.*

"The Watched Pot" is a three-act comedic play written by Saki in collaboration with Charles Maude. It centers around the inhabitants of Briony manor either scheming or enacting the scheme of marrying the only inheritor of the estate, Trevor Bavvel, before his tyrant of a mother, Hortensia Bavvel, becomes aware of the covert usurpment of her power. The play humorously explores the pressure placed on everyone in the manor as various potential brides are paraded before him, while Trevor remains indifferent and hesitant. While, "the watched pot never boils," lighting a fire under these societal expectations of Edwardian society makes the resulting action of this play as dynamic as a mountain of gunpowder.Follow me on other platforms:https://bemuse.bandcamp.comhttps://www.instagram.com/talentunlimited1/?hl=enhttps://open.spotify.com/artist/0wiNjFbd6rluEHZF4Qffcvhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100070481824821&locale=hi_INhttps://www.patreon.com/bemuseWebsite: https://bemusearts.com*This Season's Album Art by Illuvisual*Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), popularly known by his pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirize Edwardian society and culture. He is considered by English teachers and scholars a master of the short story and is often compared to O. Henry and Dorothy Parker. Influenced by Oscar Wilde, Lewis Carroll and Rudyard Kipling, Munro himself influenced A. A. Milne, Noël Coward and P. G. Wodehouse.Besides his short stories (which were first published in newspapers, as was customary at the time, and then collected into several volumes), Munro wrote a full-length play, The Watched Pot, in collaboration with Charles Maude; two one-act plays; a historical study, The Rise of the Russian Empire (the only book published under his own name); a short novel, The Unbearable Bassington; the episodic The Westminster Alice (a parliamentary parody of Alice in Wonderland); and When William Came, subtitled A Story of London Under the Hohenzollerns, a fantasy about a future German invasion and occupation of Britain.*Any views/ideas expressed in these plays are not my own, and I do not believe in the censoring of anything controversial or problematic that the playwright/poet/author has written which will impact the way in which the story is told. The integrity of these works is much more important to me than any triggering content, and therefore I would ask that you have the same maturity and mental framework to listen to these pieces and appreciate them in their proper historical context.*

Saki’s one‑act political satire, "The Death Trap" unfolds in a small Balkan castle on the eve of an insurrection. Prince Dimitri, the gentle young ruler of the state of Muravia, has been warned that rebels plan to murder him that night; only a handful of advisers and servants stand between him and the assassins outside the walls. His only remaining friend, Stronetz, coolly weighs two grim alternatives: let the rebels breach the castle and plunge the country into civil war, or sacrifice the prince to satisfy their fury and spare thousands. Before dawn breaks, Stronetz devises an unorthodox “death trap” that turns loyalty into treachery and makes Dimitri’s fate a calculated act of statecraft, revealing Saki’s dark view of power, expediency, and the human cost of political stability.Follow me on other platforms:https://bemuse.bandcamp.comhttps://www.instagram.com/talentunlimited1/?hl=enhttps://open.spotify.com/artist/0wiNjFbd6rluEHZF4Qffcvhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100070481824821&locale=hi_INhttps://www.patreon.com/bemuseWebsite: https://bemusearts.com*This Season's Album Art by Illuvisual*Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), popularly known by his pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirize Edwardian society and culture. He is considered by English teachers and scholars a master of the short story and is often compared to O. Henry and Dorothy Parker. Influenced by Oscar Wilde, Lewis Carroll and Rudyard Kipling, Munro himself influenced A. A. Milne, Noël Coward and P. G. Wodehouse.Besides his short stories (which were first published in newspapers, as was customary at the time, and then collected into several volumes), Munro wrote a full-length play, The Watched Pot, in collaboration with Charles Maude; two one-act plays; a historical study, The Rise of the Russian Empire (the only book published under his own name); a short novel, The Unbearable Bassington; the episodic The Westminster Alice (a parliamentary parody of Alice in Wonderland); and When William Came, subtitled A Story of London Under the Hohenzollerns, a fantasy about a future German invasion and occupation of Britain.*Any views/ideas expressed in these plays are not my own, and I do not believe in the censoring of anything controversial or problematic that the playwright/poet/author has written which will impact the way in which the story is told. The integrity of these works is much more important to me than any triggering content, and therefore I would ask that you have the same maturity and mental framework to listen to these pieces and appreciate them in their proper historical context.*

In "The Countess Cathleen," famine devastates Ireland, and a pair of mysterious merchants begin buying souls from starving peasants in exchange for food and gold. When Countess Cathleen discovers the growing spiritual crisis among her people, she tries to offer aid—but quickly realizes her wealth alone isn’t enough to stop their grief. In a final, deliberate act, she sells her own soul to the merchants, hoping to ransom the villagers’ salvation with her sacrifice. Drawing from Irish legend to explore moral choice, quiet heroism, and the uneasy space between good intentions and divine judgment, this debut play of W.B. Yeats would set him apart from other contemporary writers of his time and solidify the foundation for his works to come.Follow me on other platforms:https://bemuse.bandcamp.comhttps://www.instagram.com/talentunlimited1/?hl=enhttps://open.spotify.com/artist/0wiNjFbd6rluEHZF4Qffcvhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100070481824821&locale=hi_INhttps://www.patreon.com/bemuseWebsite: https://bemusearts.com*This Season's Album Art by Illuvisual*William Butler Yeats (13 June 1865 – 28 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist and writer, and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival, and along with John Millington Synge and Lady Gregory, he founded the Abbey Theatre, serving as its chief during its early years. He was awarded the 1923 Nobel Prize in Literature, and later served two terms as a Senator of the Irish Free State.His earliest volume of verse was published in 1889, and its slow-paced, modernist and lyrical poems display debts to Edmund Spenser, Percy Bysshe Shelley and the poets of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. From 1900 his poetry grew more physical, realistic and politicised. He moved away from the transcendental beliefs of his youth, though he remained preoccupied with some elements including cyclical theories of life. He had become the chief playwright for the Irish Literary Theatre in 1897, and early on promoted younger poets such as Ezra Pound. His major works include The Land of Heart's Desire (1894), Cathleen ni Houlihan (1902), Deirdre (1907), The Wild Swans at Coole (1919), The Tower (1928) and Last Poems and Plays (1940).*Any views/ideas expressed in these plays are not my own, and I do not believe in the censoring of anything controversial or problematic that the playwright/poet/author has written which will impact the way in which the story is told. The integrity of these works is much more important to me than any triggering content, and therefore I would ask that you have the same maturity and mental framework to listen to these pieces and appreciate them in their proper historical context.*