A MAJOR new festival celebrating the life, work and legacy of George Bernard Shaw is set to make its debut in London this summer, bringing together theatre, film, discussion and scholarship in honour of one of Ireland’s greatest literary figures.

The inaugural Shaw Festival London will take place at the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith from July 10 to 12, marking the centenary of Shaw’s receipt of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1926.

Organised in partnership with The Shaw Society, the three-day event aims to shine a fresh light on the playwright, critic, essayist and social commentator whose influence continues to be felt more than 75 years after his death.

Although best known internationally as the author of Pygmalion – the play that later inspired the musical My Fair Lady – Shaw’s extraordinary career encompassed far more than the theatre. He was a political thinker, journalist, campaigner and public intellectual whose views often provoked controversy and debate.

Born in Dublin in 1856, Shaw left Ireland for London as a young man but never lost sight of his Irish roots. Throughout his long life he remained deeply engaged with questions of politics, class, religion and social reform, using humour and satire to challenge accepted wisdom and conventional thinking.

The festival’s organisers believe his work remains remarkably relevant in the modern world.

Rosalind Scanlon, Cultural Director of the Irish Cultural Centre, said the event would celebrate not only Shaw’s writing but also the enduring power of his ideas.

The festival programme has been designed to showcase the breadth of Shaw’s achievements, combining stage performances with film screenings, lectures and audience discussions.

Among those supporting the initiative is acclaimed actress Dame Siân Phillips, who described Shaw as one of her favourite writers both to perform and to watch.

For lovers of theatre, the centrepiece of the weekend will be a full production of Shaw’s celebrated comedy-drama Candida, presented by Rumpus Theatre Company under the direction of John Goodrum.

First performed in 1894, the play remains one of Shaw’s most admired works. It centres on Candida Morell, the intelligent and self-possessed wife of a Christian Socialist clergyman, who finds herself at the heart of a complicated emotional........

© The Irish Post