Heartbreak House TITLE OF SOURCE: AUTHOR'S NAME - FIRST: LAST: DESCRIPTION: Visual Text Considered by some to be Shaw's masterpiece, subtitled "A Fantasia in the Russian Manner on English Themes," Shaw brings us into a declining English country house, on the eve of WWI, with apocalyptic overtones. Darker and more brooding than is typical of Shaw.<br><br>An excerpt:MRS HUSHABYE. Well, we have had a very exciting evening. Everything will be an anticlimax after it. We'd better all go to bed. <br><br>RANDALL. Another burglar may turn up. <br><br>MAZZINI. Oh, impossible! I hope not. <br><br>RANDALL. Why not? There is more than one burglar in England. <br><br>MRS HUSHABYE. What do you say, Alf? <br><br>MANGAN [huffily]. Oh, I don't matter. I'm forgotten. The burglar has put my nose out of joint. Shove me into a corner and have done with me. <br><br>MRS HUSHABYE [jumping up mischievously, and going to him]. Would you like a walk on the heath, Alfred? With me? <br><br>ELLIE. Go, Mr Mangan. It will do you good. Hesione will soothe you. <br><br>MRS HUSHABYE [slipping her arm under his and pulling him upright]. Come, Alfred. There is a moon: it's like the night in Tristan and Isolde. [She caresses his arm and draws him to the port garden door]. <br><br>MANGAN [writhing but yielding]. How you can have the face-the heart-[he breaks down and is heard sobbing as she takes him out]. <br><br>LADY UTTERWORD. What an extraordinary way to behave! What is the matter with the man? <br><br>ELLIE [in a strangely calm voice, staring into an imaginary distance]. His heart is breaking: that is all. COMMENTS: Visual Text Very rich material! But like Chekhov, it might translate into opera better than into musical theatre. And its WWI-centric universe might date the characters and themes ("the end of British civilization as we know it" -- does that translate to today's audience?) But there is rare honesty and depth of feeling in this play which could spawn an amazing musical, in the right hands. CANDIDATE FOR ADAPTATION?: --- not set --- Not reviewed Promising Unlikely SOURCE MATERIAL: Fable Novella Play Plot summary Short Story -- Parent -- GENRE: Comedy Comic Horror Detective Drama Fable Fairy Tale Fantasy Folklore Folktale Ghost Story Melodrama Mystery Myth Operetta Other Romance Suspense Young Audiences -- Parent -- SETTING: Africa America England Europe Fantasy International New Zealand Pastoral Rural Rustic Science Fiction -- Parent -- LENGTH FOR ADAPTATION: 10 Minutes 15 Minutes 30 Minutes 45 Minutes 60 Minutes 90 Minutes Two Hours -- Parent -- URL FOR PDF DOCUMENT: HeartbreakHouse.pdf
