''The Music Cure, a Piece of Utter Nonsense'' (1913) is a short comedy sketch by

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

, satirising therapeutic fads of the era and the

Marconi scandal The Marconi scandal was a British political scandal that broke in mid-1912. Allegations were made that highly placed members of the Liberal government under the Prime Minister H. H. Asquith had profited by improper use of information about the gove ...

of 1912.

Characters

*Lord Reginald Fitzambey *Dr Dawkins *Strega Thundridge

Plot

Lord Reginald Fitzambey, Under-Secretary of State for War, is in a distressed state. He explains to his doctor that, knowing the British army would soon be put on a vegetarian diet, he bought shares in the Macaroni Trust. Brought before a parliamentary committee for profiteering, Fitzambey had tried to explain that macaroni was a normal investment. Now he is highly sensitised to anything distressing. His doctor prescribes rest and offers him

opium Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...

pills. A woman starts to play the piano, causing Reginald to scream. The woman turns out to be famous pianist Strega Thundridge, employed by Reginald's mother at considerable cost to play in the room for two hours to soothe Reginald's nerves. Although Strega can hear Reginald screaming, she continues to play. Reginald finds himself powerfully attracted to her, but when he tries to make a pass at her, she starts playing Chopin, causing Reginald convulsions. She then restores his vitality with a stirring

Polonaise The polonaise (, ; pl, polonez ) is a dance of Polish origin, one of the five Polish national dances in time. Its name is French for "Polish" adjective feminine/"Polish woman"/"girl". The original Polish name of the dance is Chodzony, meani ...

. Reginald, who adores dominant women, is now hopelessly in love with Strega. He begs her to marry him so she can dominate him completely. She accepts, having always dreamed of meeting a man who was utterly in thrall to her.

Production and reception

Shaw said that the piece was not intended as a 'serious play' but was rather 'what is called a variety turn for two musicians.' It was first performed at the Little Theatre in London as curtain raiser to G. K. Chesterton's first play, ''Magic'', on 28 January 1914. Shaw had pushed Chesterton into writing a play. In ''Magic'', a character comments on the

Marconi Company The Marconi Company was a British telecommunications and engineering company that did business under that name from 1963 to 1987. Its roots were in the Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company founded by Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi in 1897 ...

, which is a reference to the fact that Chesterton's brother had been prosecuted for

libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

during the

after he criticised government ministers for making allegedly corrupt deals in Marconi shares. Hence Shaw refers to 'Macaroni' icshares in his own short play. Shaw felt that the play was a disaster, saying in a letter to

Lillah McCarthy Lillah Emma McCarthy, Lady Keeble CBE (22 September 1875 – 15 April 1960) was an English actress and theatrical manager. Biography Lila Emma McCarty was born in Cheltenham on 22 September 1875, the seventh of eight children of Jonadab McCar ...

that it was 'abominable trash' and 'simply unbearable' to watch in performance. Critic Homer E. Woodbridge says that the play is one of Shaw's worst: '"

The Fascinating Foundling ''The Fascinating Foundling'' (1909) is a short comic play by George Bernard Shaw. Shaw classified it as one of his "tomfooleries". He was so unimpressed with his own work that the published text was humorously subtitled "a Disgrace to the Author" ...

" and "The Music Cure", another topical skit dealing with the Marconi scandal, vie in flatness with "Passion, Poison and Petrifaction" ; both are really beneath criticism.' The play was made into an opera by Philip Hagemann (1984).Stanford University Libraries (2019)
"Opening Night! Opera & Oratorio Premieres - Philip Hagemann"
accessed 14 April 2019. In 2021, Misalliance Repertory Theatre, a Chicagp-based company, released a radio-play version of The Music Cure, which is available free to the public via the company's website, MisallianceRepertory.org.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Music Cure 1913 plays Plays by George Bernard Shaw