Eliza

Eliza Doolittle was a simple, working-class flower seller – and she spoke like one. Then came Professor Henry Higgins, who wagered that he could turn her into a woman of high society. Easy as cake. She flourished in her speaking exercises, practised her curtseys and was given lavish clothing. Eliza was being re-educated. Higgins treated her coarsely, looked down on her, never thinking of what would become of her after his experiment. And there she stood, ripped out of her own world and finding herself in a new one that was alien to her. Naturally, she decided to marry Higgins. At least, this is how “My Fair Lady” ends. In George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion”, the basis for the famous musical, Eliza leaves him and sets out into the world. Now she has returned and wants revenge – or, perhaps, just a new home. In any case, she finally wants to write her own story.

Ivana Sokola and Jona Spreter continue “Pygmalion” from Eliza’s perspective and use humour to ask the fundamental questions of language, status and power. How does social class shape our lives? What happens to a person who moves from one class to another? And can one truly live entirely independently of society and lead a life on their own terms?