October 28, 1905

George Bernard Shaw’s “Mrs Warren’s Profession” was performed for the first time in New York on this day in 1905. Shaw,born in Dublin, wrote his first play “Widowers’ House” in 1892. His second play “Man in Superman” garnered him notoriety as a playwright. “Mrs. Warren’s Profession,” which dealt with prostitution, has been banned in England. After only one performance at the Garrick Theater in New York, authorities closed the show and on October 31, members of the cast and the producer were arrested for obscenity. The show would not be legally performed until 1926. Shaw’s “Pygmalion” was the influence for the hit musical “My Fair Lady.” He won the Nobel Prize for literature and was awarded an Oscar, making him the only person to ever achieve this.

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