Androcles and the Lion (play)

Androcles and the Lion (Shavian: Template:Lang) is a 1912 play by Bernard Shaw. The play is Shaw's retelling of the tale of Androcles, a slave who is saved by the requiting mercy of a lion. In the play, Shaw portrays Androcles as one of many Christians being led to the Colosseum to die but surviving because the lion who was intended to tear him apart recognised him as the man who once extracted an agonising thorn from his paw.

Background and first production

Shaw wrote Androcles and the Lion as a counterblast to two plays of which he disapproved: Wilson Barrett's The Sign of the Cross – written in 1895 but still highly popular nearly twenty years later – and J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan. Shaw disliked the religious melodrama of the first, and thought the second appealed greatly to adults but bored children to sleep.<ref>Holroyd, pp. 409–410</ref> He said he wanted wanted "to show Barrie how a play for children should be handled".<ref name=hahn>Hahn, Daniel. "Androcles and the Lion", The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature, Oxford University Press, 2015 Template:Subscription</ref> He based the plot of his play on a fable written by the Roman writer Aulus Gellius in the second century AD.<ref>Holroyd, p. 410</ref>

The play, directed by Harley Granville-Barker, opened at the St James's Theatre, London, on 1 September 1913.<ref>Gaye, p. 1351</ref> It ran for 66 performances.<ref>Wearing, p. 226</ref>

Characters and original cast

• The Emperor – Leon Quartermaine
• The Captain – Ben Webster
• Androcles – O. P. Heggie
• The Lion – Edward Sillward
• Lentulus – Donald Calthrop
• Metellus – Hesketh Pearson
• Ferrovius – Alfred Brydone
• Spintho – J. P. Outram
• Centurion – H. O. Nicholson
• The Editor – Herbert Hewetson
• The Call Boy – Neville Gartside
• Secutor – Allan Jeayes
• Retiarius – J. P. Turnbull
• The Menagerie Keeper – Baliol Holloway
• The Slave Driver – Ralph Hutton
• Magaera – Clare Greet
• Lavinia – Lillah McCarthy

Plot

Androcles, a fugitive Christian tailor, accompanied by his nagging wife, Magaera, is on the run from his Roman persecutors. While hiding in the forest he comes upon a wild lion who approaches him with a wounded paw. His wife runs off. Androcles sees that the cause of the animal's distress is a large thorn embedded in its paw, which he draws out while soothing the lion in baby language.

Androcles is captured and is sent to the Colosseum to be executed with other Christians in gladiatorial combat. They are joined by a new Christian convert called Ferrovius, who struggles to reconcile his Christian principles with his violent inclinations. The Roman captain guarding them is attracted to the genteel convert Lavinia. Eventually the Christians are sent into the arena, but Ferrovius kills all the gladiators before they can harm any Christians. He is offered a job in the Praetorian Guard, which he takes. The Christians are to be released, but the crowd demands blood. To satisfy them, Androcles offers himself to be savaged by lions. But the lion that is supposed to kill him turns out to be the one that Androcles saved, and the two dance around the arena to the delight of the crowd. The emperor comes into the arena to get a closer look, and the lion attacks him. Androcles calls him off and the emperor is saved. He then declares an end to the persecution of Christians. Androcles and his new 'pet' depart together.

Scene in Ancient Roman arena with slender man in tunic and a lion, centre, with the Emperor and other Romans looking on

Final scene, 1913 premiere

Revivals

• Harley Granville-Barker directed the first Broadway production of the play in 1915 with two of the original West End cast – Heggie and McCarthy – reprising their roles.<ref>"Androcles and the Lion", Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 1 August 2025</ref>
• The Theatre Guild presented the play at the Klaw Theatre in 1925 with Henry Travers as Androcles and Edward G. Robinson as Caesar.<ref>"Androcles and the Lion", Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 1 August 2025</ref>
• At the Old Vic in 1930 Richard Riddle played Androcles and John Gielgud the Emperor.<ref>"London Theatres", The Stage, 27 February 1930, p. 18</ref>
• The Regent's Park Open Air Theatre staged the play in July 1934. The production transferred to the West End in September. Andrew Leigh played Androcles and Oscar Asche played Caesar.<ref>"The Winter Garden", The Stage, 27 September 1934, p. 10</ref>
• A 1938 production by the Federal Theatre Project in New York featured Dooley Wilson as Androcles and Maurice Ellis as Caesar.<ref>"Androcles and the Lion", Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 1 August 2025</ref>
• At the Arts Theatre in 1943 Denys Blakelock was Androcles and Geoffrey Dunn as Caesar.<ref>"The Arts", The Stage, 11 February 1943, p. 1</ref>
• In 1946 the American Repertory Theatre company staged the work in New York, with Ernest Truex as Androcles and Philip Bourneuf as Caesar.<ref>"Androcles and the Lion", Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 1 August 2025</ref>
• A revival at the Mermaid Theatre in 1961 Davy Kaye played Androcles and Ronald Fraser played the Emperor.<ref>"Glow of Religion in Shaw Revivals", The Stage, 5 October 1961, p. 14</ref>
• A second Regent's Park production, in August 1980 featured Chris Harris as Androcles and James Cairncross as Caesar.<ref>"Regent's Park", The Stage, 14 August 1980, p. 51</ref>

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  Dooley Wilson as Androcles in the 1938 Federal Theatre Project production
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  Daniel L. Haynes as Ferrovius, lighting design by Abe Feder
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  Daniel L. Haynes as Ferrovius
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  Scene from the 1938 Federal Theatre Project production
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  Dooley Wilson (Androcles) and Add Bates (Lion)

Adaptations

Radio

• 1941: with Ivor Barnard as Androcles and Frederick Lloyd as Caesar<ref>"Androcles and the Lion", BBC Genome. Retrieved 1 August 2025</ref>
• 1942: with Ivor Barnard and Bruce Wilton<ref>"Androcles and the Lion", BBC Genome. Retrieved 1 August 2025</ref>
• 1946: with Andrew Leigh and Francis L. Sullivan<ref>"Androcles and the Lion", BBC Genome. Retrieved 1 August 2025</ref>
• 1967: with Leslie French and Heron Carvic<ref>"Androcles and the Lion", BBC Genome. Retrieved 1 August 2025</ref>

Television

• 1946: with Andrew Leigh and Ernest Thesiger<ref>"Androcles and the Lion", BBC Genome. Retrieved 1 August 2025</ref>
• 1951: with Toke Townley and Raymond Lovell<ref>"Androcles and the Lion", BBC Genome. Retrieved 1 August 2025</ref>
• 1960: with Roderick Cook and Peter Bull<ref>"Androcles and the Lion", BBC Genome. Retrieved 1 August 2025</ref>
• 1984: with Billy Connolly and Peter Copley<ref>"Androcles and the Lion", BBC Genome. Retrieved 1 August 2025</ref>

Cinema

A film version, Androcles and the Lion, was made of the play in 1952, produced by Gabriel Pascal.<ref>Dukore, p. 267</ref>

Musical

Richard Rodgers wrote the music and lyrics for a televised 1967 musical adaptation, with Norman Wisdom as Androcles and Noël Coward as Caesar.<ref>Hyland, p. 289</ref>

Sources

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Further reading

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External links

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