Until Saturday May 3, Theatre Royal Bath.

The Peter Hall company gave theatregoers another chance to see the original 1916 version of George Bernard Shaw's comedy this week before it opens in the West End.

The acclaimed cast from 2007's Peter Hall season reprise their roles for an energetic interpretation of Shaw's concise text.

An austere set transforms from a rainy London street to a fausty study and a pristine drawing room in a fast-moving play which cannot fail to charm.

Tim Pigott-Smith effortlessly portrays the tyrannical Professor Henry Higgins, who makes a bet with mild-mannered gent Colonel Pickering (James Laurenson) that he can turn Cockney flowergirl, Eliza Doolittle, into a duchess.

Petulant and verging on misogyny, Higgins will stop at nothing to create "his masterpiece." - not just in the way she speaks but also in her manner.

Strong-willed Eliza, superbly played by Michelle Dockery, duly follows his plan until she can no longer hide her true feelings.

From the nasal Eeeoww' of a grubby flowergirl to the velvety tones of a would-be lady, Dockery's Eliza is comic, spirited and fizzing with emotion.

The script resonates with heated arguments and sparkling exchanges thanks to an excellent supporting cast, especially Barbara Jefford as the formidable Mrs Higgins, who revels in delivering barbed put-downs to her middle-aged son, and Una Stubbs as the fraught housekeeper who implores her boss to think about the consequences of his actions.

While much of the drama flies between the main characters, they are very nearly eclipsed by Tony Haygarth's Alfred Doolittle, whose fast-talking rhetoric almost takes your breath away.

Shying away from the sugary ending of the film version, Pygmalion provokes plenty of discussion, not just about the class divide but also how the pupil can sometimes triumph over the master.

Linda Harris

4:29pm Wednesday 30th April 2008

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