For Services Rendered premiered in London during November 1932, which was about twelve years
after the final peace treaties were signed that stripped Germany of all its military power. This
was also the time just after the rise of Fascism in Italy and Germany and it also closely followed
the Wall Street financial crash in the United States. This serious, hard-hitting drama that shadowed
many of the situations occurring in contemporary British homes provided no opportunity for an
evening at the theatre to provide an entertaining escape.
The plot and the characters in For Services Rendered did not lend this play to be a major success.
Maugham created an upper middle class English family, named Ardsley, who lived in the small
country town of Kent near the cathedral city of Stanbury. This family is beset by problems
including a new one that is announced at the beginning of the play. Mrs. Ardsley, wife and mother
of the family, has just learned from her doctor that she has cancer and she does not have long to live.
Sydney, Ardsley's son, had served as a soldier during World War One and he was blinded during
battle. Sydney lives at home with the family and his youngest, unmarried sister Eva, who has been
his devoted companion since he returned from the war. Eva, who loves her brother, is beginning to
grow angry about her restricted life of duty. She realizes that being his companion as well as her
brother's eyes is viewed by the family as her lifelong role.
The other two daughters in this family are also living lives impacted by the war. Ethel is married
to Howard Bartlett who is from a social class significantly lower than the one to which her family
belongs. Although Howard was a British officer and a gentleman as well as a hero who looked
marvelous in his uniform, their post war life on his small tenant farm is not a lifestyle she can
abide.
Lois, the other single adult daughter in the family, is beginning to receive gifts from a married
man named Wilfred Cedar. Wilfred and his wife Gwen are friends of Mr. and Mrs. Ardsley.
The May/December relationship with Lois evolves during the action of the play and eventually the
pair plan to meet in London, but Lois confesses to her family that she has no desire to marry
Wilfred. The play's story and the characters are bitter and gloomy. They portray several of the
significant problems that many British families were experiencing during the late 1920s and
early 1930s. For Services Rendered also suggests that the lasting effects of the war illustrated
by the members of the Ardsley family is not only being suffered in Great Britain, but in every
country where the war was fought. Maugham appears to be the only British playwright of his
era who refused to hide the damaging results of the war from his audiences and readers.
When this play premiered in London in late 1932, the general British population did not want to
hear the truth of the times. Maugham's drama forced audiences to witness many of their
present-day social issues and serious war related problems.
For Services Rendered also has a powerful anti-war message. The impact of World War One
was imprinted on the younger generation as well as their parents. Obviously, Maugham
did not write this play to be entertainment. He apparently wanted to rally a wake-up call
and begin the grim preparation for the next major conflict looming on the horizon.
While this drama demonstrates many of the societal changes that affected life after the war,
it also illustrates that life was becoming vastly different from the expectations and rules held
by the parental generation. In Act III Sydney declares:
I know that we were dupes of the incompetent fools who ruled the nations.
I know that we were sacrificed to their vanity, their greed, and their stupidity.
And the worst of it is that as far as I can tell they haven't learnt a thing.
This full-scale pessimistic speech was not what audiences wanted to hear. While
Maugham was declaring out with the old, he was implying that the younger generation
needed to build a new vision of what the future may hold for them in a world beset by
rapid change. No one appeared ready to move quickly in any direction, let alone one that
would be more challenging.
For Services Rendered opened on November 1, 1932 at the Globe Theatre in London's
West End. Cedric Hardwicke (1893-1964) played Sydney. Eva, his devoted sister, was
played by Flora Robson (1902-1984). Collie Stratton, the elder lover, was played by Ralph
Richardson (1902-1983). There were other notable actors in the cast when the play closed
December 17, 1932. Following the Christmas season, the production transferred to London's
Queen's Theatre opening on January 2, 1933. The entire initial run for this play was
seventy-eight performances.
For Services Rendered opened in New York City on April 12, 1933. It ran for twenty-one
performances at the Booth Theatre before it closed. Arthur Pollock wrote at the end of his
review published on April 13, 1933 in the "Brooklyn Daily Eagle": "The play may add to
the sum total of your wisdom. It will not make you gay."
It was much later in the twentieth century when For Services Rendered began to be considered
by critics and scholars as one of the best plays that discuss the lasting impact of World War One
on domestic life. I was surprised to find that the early criticism of the play did not stop it
from being produced later in the twentieth century. It had a spate of non-professional
productions throughout the British countryside during the 1930s and 1940s. BBC-TV
presented its production of this play on June 18, 1959. Two of its female stars were Maggie
Smith (1934- ) and Ursula Howells (1922-2005). In 1979 the National Theatre Company
toured a production of For Services Rendered throughout England.
Unfortunately, this play with its characters suffering long term results inflicted from
World War One did not stop the world from engaging in another devastating world war.
For Services Rendered continues to serve as a strong reminder of the type of wide-
spread consequences that can result after an armistice is signed and everyday life
strives to appear to return to peaceful times.
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