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Three Plays for Puritans
Three Plays for Puritans
Nov 27, 2025 4:38 PM

Author:George Bernard Shaw,Dan Laurence,Michael Billington

Three Plays for Puritans

Shaw believed that theatre audiences of the 1890s deserved more than the hollow spectacle and sham he saw displayed on the London stage. But he also recognized that people wanted to be entertained while educated, and to see purpose mixed with pleasure. In these three plays of ideas, Shaw employed traditional dramatic forms - Victorian melodrama, the history play and the adventure story - to turn received wisdom upside down. Set during the American War of Independence, The Devil's Disciple exposes fake Puritanism and piety, while Caesar and Cleopatra, a cheeky riposte to Shakespeare, redefines heroism in the character of the ageing Roman leader. And in Captain Brassbound's Conversion, an expedition in Morocco is saved from disaster by a lady explorer's skilful manipulation of the truth.

Reviews

A welcome return to this lovable character.

—— Good Housekeeping

With characters it is impossible not to care about, this is storytelling at its very best

—— Daily Mail

An emotional and moving epic you won't forget in a hurry

—— Woman's Weekly

A heartwarming tale of the triumph of the human spirit

—— Woman and Home

Enchanting

—— Sunday Times

It's easy to get absorbed in this novel...Life is not like this, but would it be such a bad thing if there were a it more magic in the world?

—— Daily Telegraph

Hoffman delivers one of the best plot twists I can remember

—— Observer

Hoffman is a skilled and experienced writer... beautifully constructed

—— Guardian

A strangely provocative, grown-up fairy fable

—— Good Housekeeping

Cuts deeply into the griefs and passions that shape us all and into heartbreaking secrets

—— The Times

Emotionally compelling

—— Psychologies Magazine

Hoffman writes as beautifully as ever

—— Marie Claire

Hoffman knows that good fairytales, like people, are never simple

—— Herald

Beautifully written, mystical and intriguing, this is a story of life, death, love and second chances. Enthralling

—— Woman and Home
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