Library Theatre, Manchester

The Stage, 26 February and 5, 12 and 19 March 1970, all listed Androcles and The Lion and Blanco Posnet as ‘on next week’ at the Library Theatre, Manchester. ‘Returning to Bernard Shaw after a too lengthy interval, Manchester Library’s resident company are making amends for this tardiness with a double bill, the one-act “The Shewing-up of Blanco Posnet,” and “Androcles and the Lion.” Both are given what might be called “hotted-up” treatment. In “The Shewing-up” for example, the play opens with something like a “hoe-down and a summary hanging, as if to set the scene. Then there is a vast amount of noise until, at times, things resemble one of those “live” recordings of American comedians in which the audience laugh so heartily that they almost drown the jokes. One doubts whether Shaw is helped very much in all this, but the action is very lively and nobody is allowed to become tired of listening to the words ... Last performance March 26’. The Stage, 26 March 1970.