My Fair Lady is based on the play 'Pygmalion' written by Bernard Shaw in 1912.  In the play, Henry Higgins a linguist changes an impoverished and uneducated flower girl into a fashionable society lady.  Over the course of 100 years, we here at Ying Wa have successfully produced thousands of Fair Ladies, (although of course our girls are not from lowly backgrounds), and we have done our best to equip them with the knowledge as well as the skills they will need to fulfil their roles as productive members of society.  The focal point of this particular production of My Fair Lady therefore is the importance of education and transformation of any individual through the process of education.

The role of women has changed greatly since Shaw first wrote his play and education has been instrumental in bringing about this change.  Indeed Shaw himself if he were alive today would be pleased at this change since he believed passionately that people should not be discriminated against because of their birth, their environment or their speech.  It is this aspect of the play that I would like to draw your attention to and to the fact that Eliza emerges strong, confident and sure of her at the end.  Whether Eliza should marry Higgins or not, I leave that to the audience to decide and that is why I have chosen to leave the play open ended.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those involved in the play both on stage and off for your hard work and support.  A special mention must go to Ms Wong Siu To, our music director whose idea it was to stage this play in the first place.

Thank you all.

Mala Barber.