My Dear Watson: Bernard Shaw's Letters to a Critic

Over the course of three decades George Bernard Shaw and theatre critic Malcolm Watson of the Daily Telegraph carried out an extensive correspondence. My Dear Watson brings together in book form the previously unpublished letters from Shaw to Watson (those from Watson to Shaw are no longer extant): letters that are significant for the light they shed on the working relationship between Shaw and one of Londons major newspapers.Many of the letters include self-drafted interviews with Shaw that Watson was able to use (sometimes with considerable embellishment) in his columns in the Telegraph. The letters reveal not only Shaws views on his own plays but also important theatrical initiatives of the time. Shaws attempts to educate Watson on theatre censorship add new dimensions to Shaws deep engagement with the controversial issue while Watsons interview with Shaw about anticipated raucous audience behaviour at the opening night of Pygmalion and Shaws subsequent thank-you to Watson for his cooperation in trying to establish a new code of manners in the theatre speak to Shaws serious concern about giving actors a fair hearing. All but one of the letters deal with theatrical matters; the exception deals with a personal income tax question that Watson had raised with Shaw and apart from revealing Shaws knowledge of British tax legislation suggests that the professional relationship between the two men had reached a level of comfort and respect that enabled such discussion of personal matters.Shaws letters to Watson and the self-drafted interviews that accompanied some of the letters provide the backbone of the narrative of their relationship. Editor L.W. Conolly has provided relevant context to link the letters including transcripts of Watsons columns on Shaw. The book also includes full transcripts of or lengthy extracts from Daily Telegraph reviews of Shaws major plays during the years that Watson worked for the paper. The result is a work that sheds significant light not only on one of the English languages greatest playwrights but also on the practice and profession of theatre criticism.Conollys editing notes and references are thorough and illuminating and his subtle editorial approach and impeccable scholarship make this slim volume highly entertaining as well as informative. --Dr. Anne Wright The Shavian