Man and Superman TITLE OF SOURCE: AUTHOR'S NAME - FIRST: LAST: DESCRIPTION: Visual Text One of Shaw's masterpieces. Acts One, Two and Four follow the stormy romance between John Tanner (a wealthy, politically-minded intellectual who values his freedom) and Ann Whitefield (a charming, scheming hypocritical young woman who wants Tanner as a husband). Once Tanner realizes that Miss Whitefield is hunting for a spouse and that he is the only target, he attempts to flee, only to find out that his attraction to Ann is too overwhelming to escape. Act Three is a dream sequence featuring Don Juan, Mephistopheles and several other literary or mythic figures.<br><br>an excerpt:<br><br>ANN. [placidly] I am so glad you understand politics, Jack: it will be most useful to you if you go into parliament [he collapses like a pricked bladder]. But I am sorry you thought my influence a bad one.<br><br>TANNER. I don't say it was a bad one. But bad or good, I didn't choose to be cut to your measure. And I won't be cut to it.<br><br>ANN. Nobody wants you to, Jack. I assure you--really on my word--I don't mind your queer opinions one little bit. You know we have all been brought up to have advanced opinions. Why do you persist in thinking me so narrow minded?<br><br>TANNER. That's the danger of it. I know you don't mind, because you've found out that it doesn't matter. The boa constrictor doesn't mind the opinions of a stag one little bit when once she has got her coils round it.<br><br>ANN. [rising in sudden enlightenment] O-o-o-o-oh! NOW I understand why you warned Tavy that I am a boa constrictor. Granny told me. [She laughs and throws her boa around her neck]. Doesn't it feel nice and soft, Jack?<br><br>TANNER. [in the toils] You scandalous woman, will you throw away even your hypocrisy?<br><br>ANN. I am never hypocritical with you, Jack. Are you angry? [She withdraws the boa and throws it on a chair]. Perhaps I shouldn't have done that.<br><br>TANNER. [contemptuously] Pooh, prudery! Why should you not, if it amuses you?<br><br>ANN. [Shyly] Well, because--because I suppose what you really meant by the boa constrictor was THIS [she puts her arms round his neck].<br><br>TANNER. [Staring at her] Magnificent audacity! [She laughs and pats his cheeks]. Now just to think that if I mentioned this episode not a soul would believe me except the people who would cut me for telling, whilst if you accused me of it nobody would believe my denial.<br><br>ANN. [taking her arms away with perfect dignity] You are incorrigible, Jack. But you should not jest about our affection for one another. Nobody could possibly misunderstand it. YOU do not misunderstand it, I hope.<br><br>TANNER. My blood interprets for me, Ann. Poor Ricky Tiky Tavy!<br><br>ANN. [looking quickly at him as if this were a new light] Surely you are not so absurd as to be jealous of Tavy.<br><br>TANNER. Jealous! Why should I be? But I don't wonder at your grip of him. I feel the coils tightening round my very self, though you are only playing with me.<br><br>ANN. Do you think I have designs on Tavy?<br><br>TANNER. I know you have.<br><br>ANN. [earnestly] Take care, Jack. You may make Tavy very happy if you mislead him about me.<br><br>TANNER. Never fear: he will not escape you. COMMENTS: Visual Text This is a huge play, and an intellectual audience's expectations for a musical adaptation would be enormous. Some will say you can't present the play without Act Three; some will say you can't present it WITH Act Three; few will say it's begging to be SUNG.<br><br>Make no mistake: it's a wordy, wordy play. There's one scene of high comic drama late in the play (the final wooing scene, worthy of Kate and Petruchio), and a little bit of tension with some bandits...but much of the rest of the show is talking, talking, talking.<br><br>Act Three by itself might make a very satisfying opera?<br><br>As with other Shaw source material, if you want to tackle this one, you should research what other musical adaptations already exist. 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: ManandSuperman.pdf
