Worlds Elsewhere Theatre Company Presents:
George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion

Youtube ✦ Twitch ✦ Facebook Event ✦ Premiered

Welcome to our 2024 Season mainstage winter play: the classic Pygmalion, by George Bernard Shaw. Directed by Sam Marchiony and adapted by Ilana Greenberg-Sud and Sam Marchiony. A satirical discussion of class and gender, this play stands the test of time.

Presented with a willing subject in Eliza Doolittle, Henry Higgins makes a bet that he can turn a common flower girl into a lady of high society. But when Eliza finds her voice, he might not be prepared for what she has to say.

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Company Artistic Statement

Theatre, given its nature as a medium made of people in space, has always been a first victim during times of plague. When the COVID-19 pandemic spread through the world at the start of the year 2020, theatres closed, and millions were left unemployed. Worlds Elsewhere Theatre Company was founded during this terrifying time. It is our mission to create theatre without a theatre - to create a space online that can serve as a theatrical one. Our company shall create an online space that serves the same function that theatre has served for millennia – as a place of catharsis and healing.

Support Our Company

Worlds Elsewhere is pleased to present this performance of Pygmalion on a pay-what-you-can basis. All proceeds will be counted as part of the Spring 2025 Fundraiser, to cover our costs for a potential mainstage show in the spring. WETC is particularly low on funds at this time, and a Spring production is not currently a given. As a reminder, WETC is 100% supported by donations and merch purchases from viewers like you. If we meet our goal for the fundraiser, any overage will become seed money for future productions.

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If you’d like to support us and also get stuff, check out our merch shop! There you can buy items with two different designs for this show, plus designs that show your general support for WETC and also a few of our older shows. You can find all that on Redbubble.

WETC Merch Shop

We understand if you, like many people, are not in a position to offer your financial support at the moment; this is a difficult time. If that is the case and you would still like to support our mission, any of the following steps would be very welcome assistance:

About This Production

Pygmalion is one of those plays where a single element has overtaken the bulk of the story, arguably to its detriment. Far too many people now view it as a Cinderella story or makeover narrative, often a romantic one, and the sharper edges of what it has to say about class and social mobility gets lost as a result. So, the driving force in choosing to do this play was to bring it back to its more unromantic heart, and look at what it means for someone to cross the arbitrary boundaries that make up the concept of class.

And as long as we’re saying class is built on arbitrary boundaries, let’s go for broke and admit that gender is built on similarly arbitrary boundaries. We can and should challenge those boundaries, and Eliza Doolittle is absolutely a role model worth following in that respect. We may be the sum of our experiences and the people we know, but only we can decide who that makes us.

- Sam Marchiony, Director

The Plot

Part 1

Act 1

On a rainy London night, a society family of a mother and two daughters seek transport home while a few bystanders, a family, and a gentleman seek shelter. One daughter, Freddie, bumps into Eliza, a flower girl, setting the young woman off on an attempt to seek compensation. As she attempts to sell flowers to the gentleman, a bystander points out a man who has been writing down her words. After displaying his ability to identify people’s origins by their accents, the man reveals himself as Henry Higgins, a phonetics professor, and a colleague of the gentleman, Colonel Pickering. Higgins boasts that his skill with phonetics is so great he could turn the Cockney Eliza into a refined lady. After Eliza challenges him, Higgins tosses a sum of money at her, and departs with Pickering. Freddie returns with a taxi, but her family has already left.

Act 2

In Higgins’ laboratory, Pickering and Higgins are engaged in research when Higgins’ housekeeper, Mrs. Pearce, announces the arrival of a young woman, revealed to be Eliza, who has come seeking elocution lessons, so she may have the proper accent to work in a flower shop, rather than on the street. While Higgins badgers Eliza, Pickering proposes a bet around the boast Higgins made the night before, and, despite Mrs. Pearce’s protests, the bet is accepted. Moments after Eliza leaves to begin her transformation with a good washing, her father, Alfred, arrives, seeking monetary compensation for Eliza’s presence in Higgins’ home and espousing his particular brand of philosophy. Eventually, Higgins relents and pays him five pounds, with father and daughter seeing each other only briefly before Alfred leaves to go get drunk. As Mrs. Pearce helps Eliza settle in, Higgins and Pickering anticipate the challenge ahead.

Act 3

Higgins pays a visit to his mother on her at-home day, telling her that he wishes to use the occasion to test Eliza’s progress. Mrs. Higgins does not have time to properly object before the arrival of the Eynsford Hills, the same family from Act 1, and Colonel Pickering. Higgins commits several social blunders before Eliza arrives. While she has learned to speak and dress properly, her choice of conversation still shows her origins, as she tells a story about her aunt’s possible murder and her father’s alcoholism. While the elder women are shocked by this, the younger crowd are rather delighted, with Freddie becoming infatuated. Eliza leaves, mortified, and after the Eynsford-Hills have also left, Mrs. Higgins attempts to make Higgins and Pickering see the error of their ways in taking Eliza on. They completely ignore her and head off to continue the bet while she bemoans their ignorance.

Part Two

Act 4

Three months later, Higgins, Pickering, and Eliza return home after a full day of social events. Pickering declares the bet completed and Higgins the victor, the two men congratulating each other on their success while blatantly ignoring Eliza. Once alone, she breaks down, and when Higgins returns looking for his slippers, she throws them at him in a screaming fit. The two argue furiously over who gets credit for the achievement of Eliza’s transformation, and Eliza spirals into despair as she realizes how uncertain her future is. Higgins dismisses her worries and plays the wounded party when she returns her rented jewelry, throwing a ring he’d previously gifted to her. After he storms out, Eliza retrieves the ring, pleased to have gotten a little of her own back.

Act 5

Higgins and Pickering go to see Mrs. Higgins, reporting Eliza’s disappearance, without the knowledge that Mrs. Higgins has been hosting her. Alfred arrives, dressed to the nines. He reveals that Higgins told an American millionaire about him, and that this millionaire has died, leaving Alfred a fortune on the condition that he lecture as a moralist. Alfred is miserable with his new wealth, having to now be responsible for his impoverished “relatives”, pay for various services, and marry his longtime mistress that very day. Mrs. Higgins reveals that Eliza is with her and sends Alfred out briefly while Eliza comes in to meet with her teachers. The reunion is a confrontational one, with Pickering offering contrition while Higgins refuses to admit his guilt, while Eliza explains what she has learned beyond merely the intricacies of elocution. Alfred returns and invites everyone but Higgins to his wedding. As the others prepare to go, Eliza and Higgins have one final argument in which he tries to convince her to come back and live with him and Pickering. She refuses, given how he has treated her, and hints at her intentions to run off with Freddie. In their last moments together, Higgins attempts to reassert their old patterns, but Eliza rejects him one last time. The play ends as Higgins, alone, considers his future.

Dramatis Personae

Narrator ..................................... Nadine Hart
Eliza Doolittle ........................... Jasmine Garcia
Henry Higgins ............................. James Ketelaar
Colonel Pickering ............................ Michael Lin
Mrs. Pearce/Mrs. Higgins .................... Sarah Pardys
Freddie Eynsford Hill ..................... Kristen Heider
Mrs. Eynsford Hill ....................... Michelle Turner
Clara Eynsford Hill ........................ Chinedu Ibiam
Sarcastic Bystander/Alfred Doolittle ...... Belinda Roddie
Curious Bystander/Parlor Maid ............... Hannah Moran

Cast and Crew

Performers

Nadine Hart (Narrator; she/her, they/them) is an actor, writer, dialect coach and podcast host (Disability Decoded) originally from the United Kingdom. Nadine has pursued and written work that speaks to her, with favorite roles including original pieces and serving as dialect coach for the world premier of Triangle: Scenes of a Prosecution by Jesse Waldinger with Theatre 68. She also loves mashed potatoes and making people laugh. Nadine is currently trying to publish her first horror novella. You can find her on her website.

Jasmine Garcia (Eliza Doolittle; fae/faer, she/her) has been performing with WETC for five years, and is not only grateful for the amazing productions fae have been a part of, but the wonderful friendships it has brought her as well. When this company isn’t fulfilling her dream roles, faer the host of In Each Retelling, the podcast where we explore all the ways old tales are made new! Find out more on the podcatcher or your choice, or faeriviera on all the socials!

James Ketelaar (Henry Higgins; any/all) is an actor and performer based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. This is James’ sixth performance with Worlds Elsewhere, and they are, as always, ecstatic to be a part of another wonderful production. Follow him on Bluesky, and read her movie thoughts on Letterboxd.

Michael Lin (Colonel Pickering; he/him) is a Boston-based playwright, actor, and Foley artist, most frequently seen collaborating with local theatre groups such as the Post-Meridian Radio Players and Flat Earth Theatre. Past favorite work includes voicing the title character in E. Salazar’s radioplay of Dracula and Armand St. Just in Next Act’s The Scarlet Pimpernel. His current ongoing project is a series of English-language audio drama adaptations of the Arsène Lupin stories. When not involved in theatre, Michael works in scholarly publishing.

Sarah Pardys (Mrs. Pearce/Mrs. Higgins; she/her) has performed in musicals, plays, and operas. Sarah’s favorite roles include The Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Nancy in Oliver, and Susan in Company. Sarah is a classically trained singer who has also directed her own cabarets. She thanks the cast and staff of Worlds Elsewhere for this opportunity.

Kristen Heider (Freddie Eynsford Hill; she/her) is an actor. She hates bios and pants, and has been allowed to do this show without one of those things.

Michelle Turner (Mrs. Eynsford Hill; she/her, they/them) is five raccoons fighting over the same dress and is delighted to return for her third production with Worlds Elsewhere.

Chinedu Ibiam (Clara Eynsford Hill; she/her, they/them) is an actor born and raised in Greater Boston, and is stoked to be back at WETC. A 2021 graduate of Bridgewater State University, some of Chinedu’s favorite roles were in shows such as Big Fish (The Witch, First Parish Players) and Antigone Ablaze! (Ismene/Ensemble, Bridgewater State University; KCACTF Musical Theatre Scholarship Audition Nomination, KCACTF Outstanding Production Nomination), Urinetown (Tiny Tom, Bridgewater State University.) Check out her Instagram, and her website for more fun and to see what she’ll be up to next. Much love to her parents, siblings, Lee, Kim, Sam, Pearl, and Kyana!

Belinda Roddie (Sarcastic Bystander/Alfred Doolittle; they/them) is a writer, educator, musician, and actor residing in the San Francisco Bay area with their wife and two feline sons. They co-founded and currently serve as the artistic director of OK Zoomer Theatre Company, which was established in 2020 and is dedicated to providing accessible digital theatre for everyone. Belinda is also an avid TTRPG player, a staunch LGBTQ+ activist, an active cosplayer on Tiktok, and a cat and dog enthusiast. They are thrilled to be in their third WETC production (having debuted as Bluebeard in Musica Universalis 2 and also played McSwill and Ensemble in The Vampire) and are sincerely grateful for the opportunity to work with this fantastic cast and crew!

Hannah Moran (Curious Bystander/Parlor Maid; she/her) is tickled pink to be in this Worlds Elsewhere production of Pygmalion! Past WETC credits include A Midsummer Night’s Charity Stream (Fairy), Lysistrata (The Corinthian), A Winter Cabaret (2020) (singing Joni Mitchell’s “River”), 2021 Summer Cabaret (singing an original song, “Take Care”), and The Vampire (Effie). When she’s not acting in virtual theatre productions, she’s a special education teacher. Thanks to Sam, River, and the fantastic cast of Pygmalion. Enjoy!

Production

Sam Marchiony (Director, Adaptor; she/her, they/them) has been a WETC Repertory member since the company’s creation, and is thrilled to be back again, after GM’ing Musica Universalis Book 2: Regenerational Trauma, and directing The Roaring Girl. When not being an overly pedantic theatre nerd, Sam runs Six Degrees of Star Wars, the podcast that will connect any and all movies back to Star Wars, plays a lot of tabletop games, and floats around the internet with the handle @demisemme. She dedicates this production to her family, who got her started on Pygmalion after she said “just you wait” one too many times during elementary school, and to our friends facing the California wildfires.

River Lane (Assistant Director; she/her, they/them) is frequently in the middle of a movie, two books, three television shows, and four hockey games. They’ve appeared in Lysistrata and Musica Universalis 2: Regenerational Trauma for Worlds Elsewhere, but have chosen a behind-the-scenes role this time around. She’s the host of The Straights Aren’t Alright and can be found on Bluesky and Twitter (we’re not calling it X) at DreamsRebel and on Letterboxd at punk_skeleton. They are currently engaged in the Great MCU Rewatch on their blog.

Ilana Greenberg-Sud (Producer, Adaptor, Dramaturg; she/her, they/them) is pleased to say that she has been involved with every WETC production, in some way or another, from the company’s inception. She has been honored to work with such an amazing, talented group of people, from all over the internet, and can’t wait for the audience to see the results of their hard work. She intentionally has a small personal social media footprint, and has found it to be very restful.

Adrianne Greenberg-Sud (Assistant Producer; she/her) is a software developer and digital streamer in Seattle, WA. She has been supporting Worlds Elsewhere’s technological needs since the company’s founding in 2020; credits include TD (She Kills Monsters, MacDeath, The Roaring Girl, Coriolanus, The Vampire, Musica Universalis 1 and 2), video editing (Winter Spooky 2021, Musica Universalis 2 and some of its donor rewards), and performance (Winter Spooky 2021, MacDeath, Musica Universalis 1 and 2). She’s very proud to offer her skills toward Worlds Elsewhere’s mission – live theatre, for everyone, everywhere. You can find her on her website, pigsflew.com, and on Bluesky and Github.

Ellie McConnaughy (Technical Director; she/her) first jumped on the opportunity to participate in Zoom theatre in 2020, and WETC hasn’t been able to shake her since. When not technical directing, she can be found on bsky, medium and letterboxd at @elessar42, where she rants (only slightly crazily) about movies and politics, or on her podcast, The Biggest Night in Podcasting, where she talks about Oscar-winning films with a fervor that suggests (incorrectly) that she cares about the Oscars.

Nadine Hart (Dialect Coach)

About WETC

Company Staff

Artistic Director / Co-Founder: Ilana Greenberg-Sud
Director of Digital: Adrianne Greenberg-Sud
Acting Director of Finance: Kyle Kallgren

Volunteer Staff

General
Sam Marchiony
Jasmine Garcia
Technical
Callie Castle
Financial
Ellie McConnaughy
Intern
River Lane

Native Lands Acknowledgment

Worlds Elsewhere Theatre Company is based in New York City and Seattle, on lands home to the Munsee Lenape, Duwamish, Suquamish, Coast Salish, Skaruheh/Tuscarora, Sissipahaw, Lumbee, Occaneechi, Cheraw, and Catawba peoples.

In addition, cast and crew members of this production are located on the lands of the following peoples:

Anishinabewaki ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᐗᑭ
Bodwéwadmi (Potawatomi)
Canarsie
Coast Salish
Confederated Villages of Lisjan
Duwamish
Ho-de-no-sau-nee-ga (Haudenosaunee)
Karkin
Lenape
Massa-adchu-es-et (Massachusett)
Mississauga
Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation
Miwok
Mohican
Munsee Lenape
Muwekma
Naumkeag
Patwin
Pawtucket
Quinnipiac
Seminole
Schaghticoke
Suquamish
Wappinger
Wendake-Nionwentsïo
Wompanoag

We acknowledge that this land came into government possession through acts of genocide, as part of our commitment to work towards addressing the impacts of those acts in our pursuit of social justice, and to foster a world where such injustices are truly consigned to the past.

Tribe names provided by Native Lands Digital

For more information, consult #HonorNativeLand — US Department of Arts and Culture

Attributions

Art and Images

Music and Sounds