Major Barbara December 12, 2007

It's father versus daughter and munitions over morals in George Bernard Shaw's sparkling comedy, "Major Barbara." Dakin Matthews directs Kate Burton and Roger Rees in five performances for L.A. Theatre Works, December 12-16 at the Skirball Cultural Center. All performances will be recorded to air on LATW's nationally-syndicated radio theater series, The Play's The Thing, which broadcasts weekly on public and satellite radio.

Andrew Undershaft is a self-possessed armaments manufacturer and gleeful war profiteer. Appalled by her father's "munitions over morals" philosophy, eldest daughter Barbara, a pious Salvation Army major, engages him in a charming but high stakes battle of wits - with marriage, family and wealth hanging in the balance. Theirs is a stirring battle between mind and heart.

" 'Major Barbara' is a challenging, wonderful play because, as usual, Shaw gives the devil's advocate such brilliant arguments as well some of the best lines," comments Matthews. "In the battle to win Barbara's soul away from The Salvation Army, her munitions-manufacturing father ruthlessly exposes the hypocrisy of most charitable institutions and the necessity of eradicating poverty and not just treating it."

Written in 1905, "Major Barbara" was first produced at the Royal Court Theatre in London and published in 1907. It opened on Broadway at the Playhouse Theatre on December 9, 1915. There have been four Broadway revivals, in 1928, 1956, 1980, and, most recently, in 2001 by the Roundabout Theatre Company. A 1941 film version starred Wendy Hiller. "Major Barbara" has been called the most controversial of Shaw's work due to his criticism of Christianity and The Salvation Army.

Shaw, a crusader for both art and social reform, was a proponent of socialism and a supporter of women's rights. He advocated equality of income, the abolition of private property and radical change in the British voting system. When awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925, he displayed his loyalty to socialism by accepting the prize but refusing the money. Major Barbara is among his most popular plays, along with Candida, Arms and the Man, Man and Superman, Misalliance, Pygmalion, Saint Joan and Mrs. Warren's Profession.

For three decades, L.A. Theatre Works has been the leading radio theater company in the United States, committed to using innovative technologies to preserve and promote significant works of dramatic literature and bringing live theater into the homes of millions. LATW's radio theater series, The Play's The Thing, airs weekly on 89.3 FM KPCC in Southern California; 89.7 WGBH in Boston; 91.5 FM WBEZ in Chicago; 94.9 KUOW in Seattle; 93.5 FM KRTS "Marfa Public Radio" in Texas; 90.5 FM KUT in Austin;88.9 FM KUNM in Albuquerque; 94.1 KPFA in Northern California; 91.1 FM KRCB in Sonoma County; 89.1 KUOR in Redlands; as well as on many other public radio stations nationwide and XM Satellite Radio. Selected programs from LATW are also heard internationally over BBC World Service, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Radio Telefis Eirann (Ireland), Radio Hong Kong, and Radio New Zealand. The L.A. Theatre Works Audio Theatre Collection is available in bookstores, libraries, through their catalog, digitally on itunes, overdrive.com, audible.com, and on the L.A. Theatre Works website at www.latw.org.

Performances of "Major Barbara" take place on Wednesday, December 12 at 8 pm; Thursday, December 13 at 8 pm; Friday, December 14 at 8 pm; Saturday, December 15 at 3 pm; and Sunday, December 16 at 2 pm. Tickets range from $20.00 to $47.00. The Skirball Cultural Center is located at 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd, off the San Diego (405) Freeway in the Santa Monica Mountains (exit Skirball Center Drive). For tickets and information, call the L.A. Theatre Works box office at (310) 827-0889 or go to www.latw.org.

Wednesday, December 12 at 8 pm; Thursday, December 13 at 8 pm; Friday, December 14 at 8 pm; Saturday, December 15 at 3 pm; and Sunday, December 16 at 2 pm

Skirball Cultural Center
2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90049

(310) 827-0889 or www.latw.org

Official Website: http://www.latw.org