OVERVIEW

• Playwright

  George Bernard (GB) Shaw 

• Setting

  Rome, some time after the death of Christ.

• Synopsis

  "In this play I have represented one of the Roman persecutions of the early Christians, not as the conflict of a false theology with the true, but, as what all such persecutions essentially are, an attempt to suppress the propaganda that seemed to threaten the interests involved in the established law and order, organized and maintained in the name of religion and justice by politicians." (Preface, 1912) Shaws's retelling of the well-known tale of Androcles, a slave who is saved by the mercy of a lion.

• Play Type

  Plays General
  

  Number Of Acts

  Full-Length

• Cast Size Male

  15

• Cast Size Female

  2

ORIGINAL PRODUCTION

• Date of First Production

  01 September 1913

• Production Notes

  'Androcles and the Lion' was first performed, in German, at the Kleines Theater in Berlin on the 25th of November 1912. The listing here refers to the play's first English-language performance.

• Producer

• Original Venue

• Venue Notes

  First presented in English at St James' Theatre, London.

SOURCE OF INFORMATION