Great Catherine

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) is revered as one of the great British dramatists, credited not only with memorable works, but the revival of the then-suffering English theatre. Shaw was born in Dublin, Ireland, left mostly to his own devices after his mother ran off to London to pursue a musical career. He educated himself for the most part, and eventually worked for a real estate agent. This experience founded in him a concern for social injustices, seeing poverty and general unfairness afoot, and would go on to address this in many of his works. In 1876, Shaw joined his mother in London where he would finally attain literary success. Shaw used the stage to deliver messages to his audiences in the hope of bettering society. His vision was not just to reconcile issues within society, but to encourage mankind to strive for a sort of perfection close to divinity. He did not ask questions about the present, but envisioned an alternate reality altogether. "Great Catherine" is set in the court of Catherine the Great where a young British officer is sent to help ease Anglo-Russian relations. Unfortunately the officer misunderstands the situation so terribly that he finds his life in danger and must rely on the grace of Catherine to save him.