Selected Correspondence of Bernard Shaw: Bernard Shaw Theatrics

R. Kerry White is the director of theatre arts at Laurentian University.

Bernard Shaw was passionately interested in most issues of his day, and
he wrote about them with high intelligence, wit, and cussedness. His
thousands of letters, like his plays and political tracts, are in an
important sense simply parts of his continuing dialogue with his
countrymen. Both volumes under review are well produced and include
indexes, lists of correspondents, and introductory materials that
illuminate the social context of the letters, many of which are
annotated.

Shaw and H.G. Wells were friends, colleagues, and adversaries for
decades, both in print and on the stumps of English political life. The
letters in Bernard Shaw and H.G. Wells begin at the turn of the century
and continue through two world wars. The subjects range from specific
political incidents and party policies to discussions of friends and
enemies. Most letters, when they are not quarrelsome, bristle with
opinions—many of them surprising and contradictory. As Smith notes in
his introduction, Shaw and Wells were two very different men, separated
by a decade in their ages (Shaw was the elder). In many respects, this
decade was crucial; Shaw’s political and artistic life had begun in
earnest while Wells was still in school.

Bernard Shaw Theatrics provides a fascinating look into the backstage
life of English theatre between the years 1889 and 1950. From his
advocacy of Ibsen and involvement in the Independent
(anti-establishment) Theatre in the late Victorian period to his work
with most of the most important theatre people of the modern age, Shaw
was a force to be reckoned with. He gave freely of his advice to all,
but especially to young performers; he also expressed his opinions of
theatre people freely, without regard to bruised egos and delicate
sensibilities.

As to whether these two volumes are necessary additions to existing
collections of books by and about Shaw, perhaps we can’t have enough
of a good thing.