Project Shaw

Coined “New York’s monthly guide to reason,” Project Shaw presents monthly readings of plays by George Bernard Shaw as well as plays that either influenced or were influenced by Shaw, or that share Shaw’s advocacy of human rights and the freedom of speech.

These unique Script-In-Hand performances are presented as fund-raising opportunities for GTG’s annual full Off-Broadway productions!

Project Shaw 2024

Welcome to Gingold Theatrical Group’s 19th year of these remarkable presentations.

Each play is performed by an all-star cast composed of many of New York’s finest actors and is presented in a concert-reading format at the arts-hub of New York’s Upper West Side, Symphony Space, which is fully ADA compliant.

In 2009, Project Shaw made GTG the first group ever to present performances of every one of Shaw’s plays, as well as every sketch, full-length, and one-act play he ever wrote – and all to sold-out houses!  More than 60 of Shaw’s plays — many never before seen in New York or anywhere in the United States — have delighted our audiences.

Tickets are currently on sale for all four of our 2024 events!

These are all unique script-in-hand performances.

Ty Jones, Sharon Washington, André de Shields in ‘The Shewing-up of Blanco Posnet’

“Gingold Theatrical Group provides an invaluable — and unique — service to New Yorkers. Not only does it keep topnotch productions of great works of art before the public on a regular basis as no other theater company can, but it also does something less obvious. It keeps the tradition of intelligent argument, embodied in Shaw’s plays but otherwise much lacking from public discourse, alive for those who need it most: the thinking people of a great city.” Jesse Green, New York Times

“David Staller has woven Project Shaw into the fabric of New York life.   Not only does the series keep Shaw’s brilliant voice in play, boxing   our ears with monthly punches of wit; it also gives the city’s best   actors a chance to dig into roles of substance, and local audiences a   chance to see them (for the price of a movie and popcorn). And by   including critics and members of the press in each reading, Staller   creates an oasis of collegiality, respect and even community among   theater people too often cast as adversaries. To all of this, one can   only say: bravo.” Adam Feldman, Time Out New York

“Whenever I am in the presence of great art, the two most vivid  emotions evoked are humility–and gratitude. That is certainly the case  with Project Shaw (with an added dose of humility on those occasions  when I have actually participated in an event.) Like so many others, I  am deeply thankful to David Staller for what he manages to achieve  through dint of hard work and unflagging commitment. Project Shaw is  especially to be commended for bringing to life with peerless artistry  the timeless work of one of the West’s greatest minds and, perhaps most  importantly, at “socialist” prices!”  Patrick Pacheco NY1 & The Los Angeles Times

“Project Shaw is more than a valuable academic and historical endeavor, pulling back the curtain to reveal the breadth, scope and variety of the works by an acknowledged master of modern drama. What sounds like a dry and dusty endeavor turns out to be, in practice, a series of welcoming, lively events that embrace all of the theater community, partnering a stellar group of actors with an enthusiastic audience to explore these works with insight, skill and humor.” Godon Cox, Variety

2020 Season:
Seeing Clearly Through Art

All readings begin at 7 p.m.
All titles are subject to change.

January 20 Major Barbara by George Bernard Shaw
February 24 What Every Woman Knows by J.M. Barrie
April 20  Shaw Songs@The Players   This event has been cancelled
May 18 Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw This event has been cancelled
June 22 He and She by Rachel Crothers  This event has been cancelled
July 20 The Apple Cart by George Bernard Shaw  This event has been cancelled
October 26 A Sparkling Shaw Talk!   This event has been cancelled
November 23 The Torch Bearers by George Kelly. This event has been cancelled
December 14 Androcles and the Lion by George Bernard Shaw This event has been cancelled

Project Shaw is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council

2020/2021

As long as more people will pay admission to a theater to see a naked body than to see a naked brain, the drama will languish — GBS