The
Conquering Hero written in 1923, produced in 1924, belongs
to two categories of World War One dramas.
It is an anti-war play and a remembering the war play written during
peace-time. It was penned by British
playwright Allan Monkhouse (1858-1936), who was too old to have been an active
military man during the war; however, he set Act Three in a battlefield zone. The play’s message would never have been
acceptable to censors and audiences during the war, since it discusses a range
of objections for joining the military.
The older son of a
retired military man does not want to go to war and refuses to do so despite
his family’s and fiancĂ©e’s disapproval.
He finally enlists in the army, although he is unenthusiastic. He has a shattering combat experience. When
he returns home after the war, he is surprised to learn that he is the only
male family member to survive. His
return is celebrated locally with a hero’s welcome, but he resents it and
manages to miss the event. The play is
filled with discussion regarding duty to one’s country and family plus the
glory of victory, however Monkhouse illuminates the returning soldier who has
been through traumatizing experiences and does not regard his experiences as
heroic. Monkhouse dedicated this play “To those who hate war and went to the
war.”
Allan Monkhouse joined
the editorial staff of the Manchester
Guardian in 1902 and became highly regarded as a literary and drama
critic. In 1908, Monkhouse and his newspaper
supported Annie Horniman’s newly launched repertory company—the first repertory
theatre to be established in Great Britain. Horniman’s company performed in Manchester’s
refurbished Gaiety Theatre. This
repertory company introduced a group of young playwrights, who wrote realist
problem plays fashioned after Ibsen. These playwrights became known as the
Manchester School and Monkhouse was one of the early members. Monkhouse’s plays were produced by this group
until its demise in 1917, his plays were was always associated with it.
The
Conquering Hero opened in London at the Queen’s Theatre
during the spring of 1924. It was
transferred to St. Martin’s Theatre on April 28th. A London Times
article, at the time of the transfer, mentions that the play “was highly
praised when it was performed by the Play Actors last Sunday night.” The play was also produced in Leeds and
Liverpool that same year.
An article in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle announced on June
8, 1924 that the Theatre Guild in New York was planning to present The Conquering Hero sometime during its 1924-25
season. It mentions that the play “has already won a place for itself on the
London stage.” The Theatre Guild’s list
of productions for that specific season does not indicate that its option on
the play was ever fulfilled. So there was no American production of The Conquering Hero.
Since the initial run of
this play in 1924, there have been several significant revivals of The Conquering Hero. The London Times discussed a revival of the play in its May 13, 1934 edition.
The “G” Club, a play-producing society in London, “made a bold choice in
reviving Mr. Allan Monkhouse’s play The Conquering Hero at the Royalty
Theatre. We are now ten years farther
away from the War, than we were when it was first produced, but the problem of pacifism
remains as difficult and complex now as it was then.”
The next significant
revival of The Conquering Hero
occurred on February 28, 1960. The
London Times reported on the BBC
television’s production of this play aired on the previous evening. The title of the column is “Deep Nobility of
War Play”. The unsigned column states: “There is deep nobility in its analysis
of the compulsions that drive men to take part in war.” It is this aspect of the play that makes it
different from the other plays I have discussed in my previous posts. It is a
topic that made this play significant enough to revive it nearly four decades after
it first appeared on stage. The BBC presentation made the play available to a
larger audience than it previously had during all it staged performances
combined.
There are two recent
productions of this play. The first one
was produced by Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond located in south west London. It
is a 168 seat theatre in the round. It
stages new plays and neglected classics.
The Conquering Hero was
presented April 25 through June 9, 2012.
The second production was
staged by Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory and the University of Bristol. This
production ran from October 6 through 12, 2014.
Stage Talk Magazine raised the
question after seeing the production: “Why is this play not better known? Like
Sherriff’s much more familiar Journey’s
End, Monkhouse’s The Conquering Hero
seeks to expose the sordid reality of warfare and attack the shallow
ignorance of jingoistic, death-or-glory patriotism, and does so with great
conviction.” The review concludes: “The Conquering Hero is a fine, brave
play, . . .”
The
Conquering Hero raised controversial issues in 1924 and it continues to be
a brave play into the twenty-first century.
It is gratifying to learn that new productions of this play continue to
be presented for contemporary audiences.
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