Researching Shaw in Performance An Interview with Aisling Smith

Aisling Smith completed her practice as research PhD program at NUI Galway from 2015 to 2018, focusing on the dramatic work of George Bernard Shaw. Specifically, she staged and directed three of his plays: a site-specific production of O'Flaherty V.C., an epic theater production of Pygmalion, and an intermedial production of The Millionairess. In this interview about her work, Smith discusses how relevant Shaw is to today's intellectual and performance scene and details the insights she gleaned into Shaw's dramatic work, including how, when creating her epic production of Pygmalion, she discovered new and revealing Brechtian elements in Shaw's play text and performance style.