Bernard Shaw and the Charles Macdona Partnership: Part II

This article is the second half of a two-part article (the first of which appeared in SHAW: The Journal of Shaw Studies, vol. 43, no. 2) on the mostly overlooked professional partnership between Bernard Shaw and producer Charles Macdona, which claimed over 7,000 performances of Shaw’s plays from 1912 to 1939. This part explores Macdona’s expanding ambitions for his partnership with Shaw, which begins with fulfilling 1924 plans. The 1925–1940 years cast the Shaw Repertory tours further afield, launched an expansive Saint Joan tour, mounted West End productions, staged a premier, and presented its final performances as the World War II commenced. When Macdona died in 1946, obituary notices and remembrance articles appeared throughout the counties, colonies, and countries where his tours delivered Shaw’s plays. Expanding the Shavian gospel was one of Macdona’s distinct achievements.