''Pygmalion; or, The Statue Fair'' is a play by William Brough that was advertised as a farcical musical

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

. It was first produced in 1867, and revived in March 1872. Described as having a complex plot that largely involves changing social status through

matrimony Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

, the story revolves around a young sculptor, Pygmalion, who creates a young lady out of marble and falls in love with her. She is then brought to life through the divine intervention of the Greek Goddess,

Aphrodite Aphrodite (, ) is an Greek mythology, ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretism, syncretised Roman counterpart , desire, Sexual intercourse, sex, fertility, prosperity, and ...

. All this is true to the original tale narrated by the fictional hero

Orpheus In Greek mythology, Orpheus (; , classical pronunciation: ) was a Thracians, Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet. He was also a renowned Ancient Greek poetry, poet and, according to legend, travelled with Jason and the Argonauts in se ...

as recorded by

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

in Book X of his ''

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' (, , ) is a Latin Narrative poetry, narrative poem from 8 Common Era, CE by the Ancient Rome, Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''Masterpiece, magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the world from its Cre ...

''. Unlike the Greek story, which narrative is brief and ambiguous, the living statue has no heart and cannot return the love of Pygmalion, which causes a good amount of drama in the play. Eventually Psyche gives one to her.

References

1867 plays Plays based on Metamorphoses Works based on Pygmalion from Ovid's Metamorphoses {{UK-theat-stub