The Devil's Disciple: a Melodrama in Three Acts

George Bernard Shaw's only play set in America, The Devil's Disciple is a cutting examination of honor and honesty, rebellion and irreverence. Written in 1897 and first published in the 1901 collection Three Plays for Puritans, it is the story of Revolutionary War hero Richard Dudgeon, wrongly arrested by British soldiers in a case of mistaken identity who keeps the secret, fully aware he will be hanged for another man's crimes. Like Dicken's A Tale of Two Cities, this is an historically incisive drama, highlighting the best men can achieve at the worst of times. Irish playwright GEORGE BERNARD SHAW (1856-1950) won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925 and an Academy Award for Adapted Screenplay in 1938, the only person to achieve both honors. Among his many renowned plays are Arms and the Man (1894), Candida (1894), Man and Superman (1903), Major Barbara (1905), and Pygmalion (1913).