Fanny’s First Play

Fanny’s First Play, which features a play within a play, is a satire of theater critics, whose characters were based upon Shaw’s own detractors. Originally, Shaw had the play produced without letting anyone know who actually wrote it. It caused a sensation. Ironically, this rarely seen 1911 play was Shaw’s first real commercial success. The plot involves the daughter of a man who refuses to live in the present. She writes an incendiary play, anonymously, and invites a group of critics to review it.