For its 20th anniversary, Marietta, Georgia's Theatre in the Square kicked off its 2001-2002 season with a revival of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion. The classic comedy closes on the main stage Sept. 23. Performances began Aug. 15.

Pygmalion is the story of irascible phonetics professor Henry Higgins, who bets he can mold a Cockney flower girl into a high-society lady and does so, without taking into account that his experiment is a real-live female with very deep feelings about herself, her class and love. The story famously served as the basis for the musical My Fair Lady.

The version of Pygmalion Theatre in the Square is staging was originally a film version written specifically for screen legend Leslie Howard ("Gone With the Wind"). University of Georgia department head Dr. August Staub directs the production.

Theatre in the Square vets Jim Donadio and Monica Williamson play Higgins and flower girl Eliza Doolittle. His credits at the Square include Uncle Vanya and Private Lives; she's taken parts in The Front Page, Uncle Vanya and Five Women Wearing the Same Dress.

Also in the cast are Don Finney (Colonel Pickering), David Milford (Alfred Doolittle), Jackie Prucha (Mrs. Higgings), Josie Lawson (Mrs. Eynsford Hill), Anne McCarthy (Miss Eynsford Hill), Mark Pitt (Freddy), Deadra Moore (Mrs. Pierce), Nick Rhoton (Nepommuck), Anna Whitson (socialite) and Diana Butler (the hostess). Designing Pygmalion are Corky Pratt (sets) and Michael Reynolds (costumes).

Tickets are $20-$30. The Theatre in the Square is located at 11 Whitlock Avenue in Marietta. For reservations, call (770) 422-8369. Theatre in the Square is on the web at http://www.theatreinthesquare.com.

— By Christine Ehren