World War One:
Plays, Playwrights & Productions
Plays, Playwrights & Productions
This blog is devoted to plays, playwrights and theatre productions related
to WWI--1914-1918 as well as 1919-1934.
Tuesday, March 7, 2023
Wednesday, October 12, 2022
ADRIAN CONSETT STEPHEN’S THE TRENCH MORTAR OFFICER—A Field Impression
The Trench Mortar Officer has been labelled as a short story, but I consider it to be a sketch since it has a considerable amount of dialogue. Adrian Consett Stephen (1892-1918) was a young playwright with his four plays produced prior and during World War One. His sketch maybe a likely idea for a future play. He wrote this piece while he was in France during World War One. Stephen was an acting Major in the British Royal Field Artillery when he was killed in action at the age of twenty-five on March 14, 1918. Since the major character in The Trench Mortar Officer is in the actual position that Stephen held, this work may be somewhat centered on the events and his thoughts of a particular day. Adrian Consett Stephen was born and educated in Australia. He was one of the few men from his country serving in a British regiment.
ADRIAN CONSETT STEPHEN
The
initial setting for this piece, which commences before breakfast, is a dugout
on the French Front belonging to a Captain of a Trench Mortar division before breakfast.
Later the Captain is called to go to a trench—a second location. He goes to the
trench and gives the order to fire a mortar. When it lands in the German
trench, it does not explode since it is a dud. The Captain begins to return to
his dugout when several mortars are fired by the Germans and the bombs fall
into a trench near him. He hardly notices them since he is focused on his thoughts,
and he falls into a sump hole. “Life is not worth living” he gurgled.
After
lunch in his dugout, he is given forms to complete by four o’clock. When
evening comes the officer steps out of the dugout. The scene has the moon shining
and softly through the silence floats some music. This moment of peacefulness
gives him some hope that ‘Life is worth living after all-even here.”
Since the Trench Mortar was a significant weapon during World War One, it is important to know a bit about the type of weapon it was. The Trench Mortar was widely utilized during WWI since it could be fired from a position in the trench, and it saved the mortar crews from physically being exposed to the enemy. The Germans improved upon this older type of military weapon, and they began to stockpile it before the war commenced on the French Front. The Trench Mortar consists of a short tube designed to fire a projectile/bomb at a steep angle.
This photo shows the British Stokes Mortar
When World War I began, the British military was caught short by this old, but improved war weapon which caused many British soldiers’ deaths as well as left many of the troops with serious wounds. However, Great Britain began production in late 1915 on a greatly improved mortar weapon created by Sir Wilfred Stokes (1860-1927) to be used by its army and its allied partners. By the end of the war, both sides had developed a full range of highly efficient deadly mortar bombs that could be fired at the rate of twenty-two bombs per minute with a range of 1,200 yards.
U.S. Soldiers loading a Trench Mortar in 1918I
believe this sketch illustrates a significant aspect of trench warfare during World
War One that is lost to most individuals today. But I also think that had the
sketch been published while the war was in progress, it would have given an
insight into the battlefield that those at home did not know.
The
Trench Mortar Officer illustrates one day in the life of an officer
on the battlefield and the adverse conditions he continually battles that are
beyond one’s ability to alter. It
illustrates that these conditions can wear down even the strongest individual. The Trench Mortar Officer is the leader who had
a bad day, but lives to recognize by day’s end that life is still a gift.
Friday, July 22, 2022
FRENCH LEAVE by Reginald Berkeley
REGINALD BERKELEY
The meaning of the title “French Leave” dates to 1771. Its originally related to guests leaving a major
social event without saying goodbye to the host and/or hostess. The military meaning of the term refers
to a leisurely absence from a military unit.
During the early summer of
1920, French Leave, was performed for four weeks in small cities and
towns throughout the English countryside. This comedy opened at London’s Globe
Theatre on July 15, 1920 and later transferred to the Apollo Theatre where it
played for a total London run of 283 performances. It was later reported in British newspapers
that the play was “honoured by a visit from every reigning monarch in Europe.”
French Leave is
a three-act play requiring six actors and two actresses. It is set “Somewhere in France.” The setting
for Act One is the sparsely furnished Mess Room for battle fatigued British Officers
of a designated Brigade resting out of the line. It is situated “in a ramshackle French house
in the village of Bogusvillers.” This
dwelling serves as the resting accommodation or Headquarters Mess for any British
Brigade that is in this area and on a few days leave from battle.
Dorothy
is the young, beautiful wife of Captain Harry Glenister. She has come to France to spend a weekend
with her husband while he is on leave. They were supposed to meet in Paris, but
his unit’s city leave was cancelled. Instead Glenister’s battalion is on rest
near the battlefield. Dorothy learned of his destination. She arrived early and
is posing as “Mademoiselle Juliette,” the daughter of the French woman who owns
the officers temporary dwelling. During
this act the three other officers who are at the house with Glenister, all meet
the attractive daughter of Madame Denaux. All the officers are smitten. There
are also two Mess soldiers with the officers, and the senior Mess soldier is
key to guiding the evolving situation before it reaches a serious conclusion.
Act Two is in the same room and it is after dinner. Dorothy has joined the Officers and one is being overly aggressive while vying for her attention which aggravates Glenister. The latter part of this act borders on becoming a full-blown farce since several male characters are sneaking around in the dark to find Dorothy.
Act
Three takes place the next morning in the same room. Eventually the truth is revealed that the
“Landlady’s daughter is Captain Glenister’s English wife. Brigadier-General
Root must act with prudence over the situation, and he determines that Dorothy
must be sent back to Paris under military escort. Captain Glenister is
designated for that assignment.
The
production at the Apollo Theatre starred Renee Kelly (1888-1965) and M.R.
Morand (1860-1922). While French Leave was still playing at London’s
Apollo Theatre, it was produced in the United States by Marc Klaw (1858-1936).
It opened in New York City at the Belmont Theatre after a short tryout run in
Boston. Mr. Charles Coburn (1877-1961) and Mrs. Charles (Ivah Wills) Coburn (1878-1937)
starred in the production. He played
Brigadier-General Archibald Root and she played Mlle. Juliette (Dorothy). This
production played at the Belmont for fifty-six performances.
While
French Leave was not a major success in the United States, it continued
to be popular in theatres throughout Great Britain. A new London production of French
Leave opened during January 1930 at the Vaudeville Theatre. This play
continued to be presented throughout the country during the entire decade. It
even changed a 300-year-old tradition at St. John’s College, one of the
thirty-one colleges at the University of Cambridge, when the Mummers presented
their annual play. Males had always played the female roles, but Dorothy/Juliette
was played by an actress.
A
film version of French Leave was made in 1930 by D & H Productions,
a British Film Production Company. It was distributed in the United Kingdom
immediately before playing in the United States in 1931. Madeleine Carroll (1906-1987) starred as
Dorothy and the leading male role went to Sydney Howard (1884-1946) who played
the same character Charles Coburn had. Haddon Mason (1898-1966) played the husband,
Captain Harry Glenister. This film was directed by Jack Raymond (1886-1953).
On
February 28, 1940, it was reported in the “Aberdeen Evening Express” that French
Leave was one of the first plays to be sent to the British Forces fighting
in France during World War Two. This tour was scheduled for two months.
PHOTO: This photo appears in the 1922 Samuel French published edition of the script. Madame Deaux was played by Anna Russell (????-????)
Tuesday, May 3, 2022
THE WHITE CHATEAU by Reginald Berkeley
Reginald Berkeley
(1890-1935) was an Englishman of multiple talents, who served in World War One
as a Captain in the British Rifle Brigade. He was awarded the Military Cross in
1916 for his “conspicuous gallantry in action.” Berkeley was a lawyer briefly before
he was elected to serve as a Member of Parliament in 1922, where he served
until 1924. He wrote The White
Chateau to be presented on the radio by the British Broadcasting Company
(BBC). It was aired throughout England on
Armistice Night in November 1925. It is the first play in English specifically
written for radio.
The White Chateau
has a narrator, designated as THE CHRONICLER, who sets the focus for each
scene. He informs the audience that as SCENE ONE begins “This story of the
White Chateau” that was built centuries ago in Flanders plain, was burned down,
and rebuilt through succeeding years. It
would be destroyed once more and rebuilt again due to another war.
When Scene One commences, members of the Van Eysen family, who reside in the White Chateau, are having breakfast when suddenly their meal is disrupted by men in uniforms. These soldiers are not dressed in the color of their country’s military. Not only is the family’s breakfast disrupted, but the family is plunged into an immediate tragic situation with the murder of their son as World War One is sprung upon them by the invading German soldiers.
SCENE TWO:
THE CHONICLER: informs
the audience that a war is raging:
The
Grand Headquarters Over All
Is
some great Mansion—once alight
With
children’s voices, loud and small—
Now
bare and bleak, directs the fight…
The
White Chateau is serving as headquarters for Germany’s military leadership in
this area. This scene reveals the issues
that the Chief of Staff and Commander-in-Chief have with the Minister for War.
SCENE
THREE:
THE
CHRONICLER recounts the current situation at the Chateau:
An
army in long retreat,
Trudge,
trudge of tired feet, . . .
Long
since departed G.H.Q.
From the Chateau (with its whiteness faded!)
And
leaves the Chateau stark
In No-Man’s-Land.
A
division of the British army arrives at the Chateau. The surrounding grounds of
the property have been further destroyed by German troops building trenches. Some
German soldiers remain at the Chateau and as the British division attempts to
take the Chateau the final rounds of shelling demolish the west wall of the
building.
SCENE
FOUR:
THE
CHRONICLER ruminates about the normal activities for day and night, but
concludes with “The night—a nightmare from the Deeps of Hell, The Day—a worse
Damnation?”
This
scene announces the arrival at the ruined Chateau by American soldiers. They
must defeat the remaining German soldiers.
The Americans come under enemy fire and the captain of the unit is
killed. A soldier named Philip is now in command of this American unit.
SCENE
FIVE:
THE CHRONICLER laments the loss of the chateau and the land “on which no blade of grass
could grow---”
A
Casualty Clearing Station is currently operating on the property. Philip is being
taken care by an American doctor. The
nurse is Diane, the sole surviving member of the Van Eysen family, who lived in
the Chateau in Scene One. She takes care
of Philip, and a romantic relationship develops between them.
SCENE
SIX:
THE
CHRONICLER laments man’s need “to slay and slay and slay---” Philip and Diane
are married, and they are rebuilding The White Chateau. During this final scene
Diane has a dream in which “Voice” recounts to her the long history of war this
piece of land has endured, and a future filled with more wars. At the
conclusion of the play, there is hope expressed by the Voice of The Chateau for
there to be lasting world peace. Berkeley wanted the audience to realize that “Nothing
is to be gained by labouring the causes of the Great War and reviving the
animosities that it bred.”
The
White Chateau was published in 1925 as a book and again
in 1927. During these two years, six editions of the script were published. It
obviously was a popular drama to read. The Publisher was Williams and Norgate,
Ltd.
In
March 1927, The White Chateau was staged at London’s Everyman’s Theatre.
It played for thirteen performances before it closed. This production was
reworked and basically recast prior to its next opening in late April 1927 at
St. Martin’s Theatre. The second London production received excellent reviews. Henry Oscar (1891-1969) was praised for his impressive elocution as the Chronicler in The Illustrated London News on May 7, 1927. Another news paper especially
noted the trench scenes that were staged with heightened effects that made
them harrowing.
The
White Chateau had another transformation in 1938 when
it was made into a film by the BBC. It
was released in England on November 11,1938 and it starred Peter Ashmore (1916-1997),
Claude Bailey (1895-1950) and Ivor Barnard (1887-1953).
What
is unique about this play is how it relates to the effects of wars on the land
and the distinguished historic structures that help tell the story of western
civilization. It further recounts the human desire to rebuild even though “Men
have not learned the lessons of going to war.” It pleads through The Voice that
“There can be no more war. It is too wasteful, too uncivilized.”
NOTES:
1. Reginald Berkeley's photo appeared in THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS 2/2/1929.
2. INFANTRY ATTACK photo appeared in THE ILLUSTRATED SPORTING & DRAMATIC NEWS.
Wednesday, March 2, 2022
TWO SCOTTISH ONE-ACT PLAYS
THE HOME FRONT
by Hal D. Stewart
Although this
play was written after World War One ended, it focuses on what life was like
during the war for women living in Scottish farming communities. It premiered
on January 27, 1931 in a production created by the Ayrshire Federation of
Scottish Women’s Rural Institutes in the city of Dunlop. The next production
was staged by the Scottish Players in the Lyric Theatre in Glasgow on the 24th
of March of the same year. Following those two productions, The Home Front
became a very popular play with Scottish women’s drama groups.
The cast is comprised of seven female characters. It is set in the light and airy kitchen of the Murdoch’s farm. The year is 1918. Billy Ashmore is an enlisted member of the “Land Girls.” She is from Glasgow but was assigned to work on this farm. Billy is in her early twenties and dressed in her uniform of khaki tunic and breeches. When she first arrived on the farm, Mrs. Murdoch’s son John was still at home. John and Billy became engaged prior to his leaving to fight in France.
A LAND GIRL AT WORK
On the day when the play begins, Mrs. Murdoch and her two daughters are expecting John to come home for a brief furlough. A problem suddenly develops among the town busybodies. Billy had gone to a dance the previous evening that was held for the British soldiers stationed in town. She danced with the officer who is billeted at the Murdoch farm and the local farm ladies believe that was not appropriate behavior for an engaged woman. It was much ado about nothing, however, the play ends sadly with word of John’s death in France.
When Stewart wrote this play,
there was a need for scripts with roles only for women. This casting underlines the fact that so many
men had either died or been severely wounded. Thus, males were in limited
supply for every type of work. The
Home Front also clearly depicts how the local women frequently needed help
in the fields to produce food for market as well as coping with the
business responsibilities of running the farms. The British Women’s Land Army
of 23,000 females took the place of the 100,000 workers lost to the armed
forces. This play is a tribute to these women and a remembrance of their
service.
Hal D. Stewart
(1899-????) is remembered as a Scottish stage producer and director; however,
he also established a reputation in London theatre. His playwriting seems to be mainly focused
during the years between 1930 through 1950s.
The Home Front continued to be produced regularly for Drama
Festivals in Scotland into the middle of the 1980s.
SYMPHONY IN ILLUSION by
James Wallace Bell
Symphony in Illusion was
written in 1931-32. Like The Home Front, it was written for a female
cast of seven women. This unusual play has a strong anti-war message, and it was
a unique script for the women’s drama clubs of Scotland. James Wallace Bell (????-1984)
was known as a theatrical producer as well as the acclaimed author of “Symphony.”
Symphony in Illusion
is a drama that was conceived in the format of a symphonic composition. It is divided into three movements instead of
acts. Each movement is assigned a
musical term to designate the pace of the speech and movement.
First Movement: Allegro.
Scene---A bare stage. One quickly
recognizes this play presents a contrast between reality and illusion since the
seven actresses engage in preparing the stage for the play. “SHE-WHO-PLAYS-THE-MAD-GIRL” is designated by
the playwright as the director of the play. The actresses argue over trifles as
they set up the scenic elements utilizing a brisk and lively pace. When the scenery
and props are in place, the actresses take their positions on the stage as the
lighting darkens to a black-out.
Second Movement: Largo.
The characters: A Woman, A Widow, A
Girl, A Wanton, An Old Woman, Mary, and A Mad Girl. The Scene—it is night. This segment of the
play is the war interlude. The major scenic elements include the broken steps
leading to the portal, without doors, of a war-ruined church. “The muffled rhythm
of distant guns is heard in the darkness; not loud, but terribly insistent.” The
women are weary and listless. They all wear drab peasant dresses, and have
shawls covering their heads and shoulders, except A Girl and the Wanton. The
characters are highly strung and nervous to the point of hysteria. The war has been in progress for four years.
This play shows how these
females relate to each other during these trying circumstances. The older
characters continue to harangue a young woman who had married a man from the
enemy country, before the war had commenced.
They do not let her have any food since they treat her as an enemy. She
and her baby starve to death despite the character named Wanton, who pleads for
the young mother’s life. As the act concludes and the sounds of war cease, dawn
rises and Mary, the voice of reason in this drama, goes to bury her son.
Third Movement: Andante
non troppo. “All the lights click on, white and hard; the dawn becomes
merely a back-cloth.” Mad Girl (with
a sigh of relief) announces “And that’s that.” The other actresses start
talking about their characters and the ideas in the play as they begin to clear
the stage of the props and scenic elements. Shortly the overhead lights are
switched-off. Only the foot lights illuminate the stage. “Girl” continues to stare
out into the distance before running off. Mary and Wanton continue to collect the
crosses left on stage and exit as the footlight “quickly dim out.”
This play was published in
1933 by Samuel French, Ltd., London. Like The Home Front, Symphony in
Illusion was also produced by many universities and Dramatic Societies throughout
Scotland during the 1930s and 1940s. It won first prize for those groups who
mastered the style of production and the truth of its message. It was a
well-known play during the period between World War One and Two. It is an unique
script.
NOTE: To see more of The Women's Land Army in Pictures visit www.iwm.org.uk/history/the- womens-land-army-in-pictures
Thursday, February 3, 2022
GILBERT EMERY’S THE HERO
The Hero, written in 1920, was Gilbert Emery’s (1875-1945) first play. Emery was thirty- nine years old when he served during World War I as an American Ambulance Driver. He was stationed in France for nine months during 1914-15. Emery was a multi-talented person who acted in at least eighty films. He also wrote novels, poetry and had seven of his plays produced on Broadway.
GILBERT EMERYThe Hero is a unique story that focuses on a soldier, Oswald Lane, who in 1919 returns home to a small suburban town near New York City. His Mother, Sarah, and older brother, Andrew, have not seen Oswald since he ran away from home twelve years earlier at the age of sixteen. The family has had no contact with him since that time.
Andrew, about forty years
old, works as an insurance clerk and is married to Hester who is twenty-six
years old. They have a six-year-old son named Andy. There are two other persons
who live with this family in their “small rented, jerry-built house.” Sarah
Lane is Andrew’s mother, who was a farm woman, and Marthe Roche, a young,
pretty orphan from Belgian. She helps with the household chores as well as
providing some care for Andy. Hester and Marthe are immediately enamored of
handsome, brave Oswald who returns unexpectedly from a hospital in France.
Act Two is in the
“Sitting Room of the House.” It is three months after Oswald’s arrival home. He
had spoken at the church earlier this evening about his war experiences.
Oswald’s heroism is established in the minds of the people of this town, while
his character at home reveals a man who is without scruples.
Act Three is in the same
location. It is 8 AM the next morning. Oswald is determined to leave this house
and return to France. He plans to steal
the church collection that resulted from his talk the previous evening. Since
Andrew oversees the church’s money, last night’s collection has been locked
away in his home. Oswald takes it and leaves. Just as he sets out to depart
from their small town for France, the kindergarten where little Andy goes to
school catches on fire. Once again Oswald proves to be heroic. This time it is
at the cost of his own life; however, Andrew can now neatly explain the loss of
the Church’s money so no further disgrace from Oswald’s latest misdeed falls
upon his family.
The Hero
never openly discusses what is to be done with the man who is a “hero” in war
and an “undesirable citizen” when at home?
But in acts two and three, Oswald’s attitude and actions strip him of
his former glory until the play’s conclusion. This is obviously an unusual and
unsentimental topic for the decade immediately following World War One.
The Hero
premiered in New York City at the Longacre Theatre on March 14,1921, one year
after the end of the Spanish flu. It was a short engagement of five “special
matinee” performances. Its main
Broadway production opened at the Belmont Theatre on September 5, 1921, where
it ran for eighty performances. Sam H. Harris (1872-1941) was producer of both
productions as well as owner of the Longacre Theatre. There were only two
actors who appeared in both productions—Robert Ames (1889-1931) played Oswald and
Blanche Friderici (1878-1933) played Sarah Lane. The other four roles were recast, and Richard
Bennett (1870-1944) played Andrew Lane.
The Hero was
published in Arthur Hobson Quinn’s “Contemporary American Plays” and in Burns
Mantle’s “Best American Plays of 1921-22.”
During the 1920s, The Hero was produced in numerous American
cities.
On January 1, 1923 an
American silent film was released and the storyline was based on The Hero.
It starred Oswalt Glass (18??-19?? ) as Oswald and Barbara La Marr (1896-1926)
as Hester Lane. When the film was
released in Great Britain during the second week in November 1923, its title
was changed to His Brother’s Wife. It had good reviews and played
throughout the country for three years.
On April 8,1930 the
“Evening Express” newspaper in Los Angeles California reported “two of the
largest audiences ever to witness a legitimate stage play in California are
expected at the Shrine Civic Auditorium” to attend two performances of “The
Hero.” The seating capacity of this auditorium
was 6500 persons. This production
starring Broadway actor Grant Mitchell (1874-1957) was already being performed
in Los Angeles by the Civic Repertory Theatre at the Music Box Theatre, but the
entire cast and production were moved to the Shriner’s theatre and the two
performances were free of charge to the Shriners and their families.
During March 2014, there was an Off-Broadway production of The Hero at the Metropolitan Playhouse. It opened on March 8 and closed on March 30th. Christian Rozakis played the role of Oswald. The New York Times review on March 10th states:
There’s a lot to watch in “The Hero.”
But the real action is under the surface.
This exceptional revival of Gilbert Emery’s 1921 play is steeped in
subtext
and repressed emotions: confusion, regret, desire and despair. Here, the
silent
moments are among the most moving.
The most recent
undertaking of this play was part of a celebration of Gilbert Emery’s life and
works in his birth city of Naples, New York. The Bristol Valley Theatre
presented a live stage reading of The Hero on October 24, 2021.
There is something about
this play that lingers with you after even a single reading. The copy I read is
in “Modern American and British Plays” by S. Marion Tucker. (New York and
London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1931)
Wednesday, December 29, 2021
PAUL RAYNAL’S THE UNKNOWN WARRIOR (Le Tombeau Sous L’Arc de Triomphe)
The French title of Paul
Raynal’s 1924 play refers to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier which was created
in Paris in1920. It is the grave for a World War One Unknown French Soldier located
beneath L’Arc de Triomphe. The French monument created an interest in other
countries to dedicate a similar single national site to commemorate a nation’s
unknown military dead, whose identities are “known but to God.”
Raynal (1885-1971) served
as a soldier of France for four years during World War I in Champagne and in the French
Army of the Orient. This special French unit was created in October 1915 after
the allies lost the Dardanelles Campaign. His military experience fueled Raynal
with the desire to write a trilogy of plays about World War One. The Unknown
Warrior written in 1923-24 is the first of these plays. It was followed by La Francerie,
a three act play that was performed in 1933 at the Comedie-Francise in Paris.
The third play, written in 1935, is titled Le Materiel humain. It was staged
after World War II. This third play was not a theatrical success; however, it
was published in 1946.
The Unknown Warrior
is a tragedy in three acts. Act I consist
of five scenes. Acts II and III have one scene each. The cast is composed of three characters. The
French Soldier wears “the regulation uniform of an infantry regiment without
any badges or distinguishing marks, save a number on the collar.” His Father, who
is not described, and “Aude, a girl of twenty,” who is the Soldier’s fiancĂ©e. At
the opening of Act One, Aude and the Father are awaiting the arrival of The
Soldier for his first visit home. Aude has not seen him in fourteen months and
eight days. They plan to get married
during his four-hour visit. The date is October 8, 1915, and the time is 2 A.M.
“The setting is a house in the country, a day’s journey from Paris.”
Over the course of the
Soldier’s brief visit, the reader is exposed to how the war is overshadowing
his youth, his love, and his life. Each
one of the characters represents a point of view regarding war. This places the
Soldier in conflict with his patriotic father who does not realize the hard
realities of the current war. His relationship with Aude is not as solid as he
hoped. She held the romantic idea of being attached to a soldier departing to
the Front. Additionally, the Soldier offered her the opportunity to move to his
farm, away from Paris, where she would live more safely.
Upon the Soldier’s return
home, Aude realizes his absence has dissolved her love for him. She gives
herself to him even though the planned marriage ceremony never takes place. The
Soldier is determined to live in the present during every moment of his home
visit and he succeeds despite the difficulties the other two characters
present. The Soldier was granted this four-hour
home visit since he volunteered for a dangerous assignment which is believed by
his Commanding Officers to lead to certain death.
The focus of the play is
on the Soldier. It shows the issues that soldiers must face to survive on the
battlefield. The attitude of the soldier
is one of endurance. Throughout the play the Soldier raises the question “what
is war?” and there are multiple answers—War is drudgery. War is uncertainty.
War is the anguish of waiting. War is learning how to accept bad news. War is
the faith that something positive is to evolve from all the sacrifice. These
are several of the insights.
The Unknown Warrior was
premiered on January 30, 1924 at the Paris National Theatre, the
Comedie-Francaise. Not every critic was positive about this play following its
initial performances. Some critics believed it was critical and disrespectful
of the common French soldier, but these points were eventually dismissed. The play was revived in 1929 at the Theatre de
l’Odeon, Paris.
The Unknown Warrior was
first performed in England in 1924 at London’s Arts Theatre Club, but it was
not published in English until 1928. The
translation was done by Cecil Lewis (1898-1997) who was an ace English pilot
during WWI as well as one of the founders of the British Broadcasting Company
(BBC). These are but two among several other interesting activities that bear
his name. Lewis’s translation of The Unknown Warrior had ten editions in
its first year of publication.
After its Paris premier, Raynal’s
play quickly attained popularity throughout Europe. During the years between
the two World Wars, it was staged in Berlin, Stockholm, Vienna, Moscow, and
many other continental cities. The American
production opened on Broadway the evening of October 29,1928. The cast
consisted of Tyrone Power, Senior (1869-1931) as the Father, Beatrix Thomson (1900-1936)
played Aude and Lester Vail (1899-1959) A French Soldier. The production was staged by Charles Hopkins
(1884-1953) who also owned and operated the theatre. The production was
produced by arrangement with Arts Theatre.
It closed in November 1928. It received mixed newspaper reviews.
Maurice Browne
(1881-1955) a theatre producer born in England, brought his 1931 production of The
Unknown Warrior to open in New York City before touring Pacific coast cities. He had several motivations for doing this
including his deep belief in the play and his desire to play the leading role
of The Soldier. The tour started with four performances on Broadway at the
Morosco Theatre. It opened October
22,1931 and closed October 31st. Other cast members included
Rosalinde Fuller (1892-1982) as Aude and Daniel Reed (?) as the Father.
The next major production
occurred when BBC Television presented a live performance of this play on
November 11, 1951. Arthur Wontner (1875-1960) played The Father, Isabel Dean
(1918-1977) Aude and Peter Neil (1913-1994) The Soldier. This performance was
to commemorate the armistice that ended World War One.
The most recent
production of The Unknown Warrior was presented in November, 2021 at the
Finborough Theatre in London to mark the centenary of the burials of the
unknown warriors in France and England.
Along with Journey’s
End, The Unknown Warrior is considered by many critics and scholars
as one of the finest pieces of dramatic literature resulting from World War
One.