PEACE by GEORGE CALDERON

George Calderon (1868-1915) was born in London, but his father’s family was descended from one of Spain’s foremost dramatist Calderon de la Barca (1600-1681). George’s father was an artist. George was a capable visual artist, talented as a theatre director and playwright as well as an expert on Slavonic languages. George Calderon was the first person to translate Anton Chekhov’s plays into English. It was his translations of The Cherry Orchard (first published in 1912 with its London premier performance in 1925) and The Seagull that introduced the English-speaking world to this Russian master.

                                                               GEORGE CALDERON 

When Great Britain entered World War I, Calderon was 45 years old. He was too old to join the military, but he was determined to become a soldier. As a result, he worked diligently to fill every requirement to become a military interpreter. He succeeded in qualifying for this position with the Royal Horse Guards and was sent to Flanders in October 1914.  His desire to be a soldier was fulfilled in January 1915, when he transferred to the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and was promoted to Temporary Second Lieutenant. (This battalion was commonly referred to as the Ox and Bucks.) In May 1915, Calderon was reassigned to the King’s Own Scottish Borderers (K.O.S.B.) Infantry. His battalion landed in Gallipoli on June 4,1915. Many British, American, and Canadian newspapers reported during the second week of July,1915 that Calderon had been seen severely wounded during the first assault on Gallipoli and he was listed as missing in action. On May17,1919 the London Times officially reported George Calderon was presumed dead following a long investigation on whether “he might prove to be a prisoner in Turkey.”

PEACE, A Farce in One Act, was written prior to Calderon’s departure for the battlefields of World War One. The scene takes place in the evening at the residence of Sir Blennerhassett Postlethwaite, who is a Member of Parliament. Sir Postlethwaite is at home preparing his speech for the following day when he expects to be “called upon to take the chair at the Meeting of the Peace Society.” Postlethwaite is widely recognized for his preaching about universal peace.

Burglar enters Postlethwaite’s room by the window and pulls up his ladder which he leans against the bookcase. He is surprised to see Postlethwaite there. Postlethwaite immediately tells  Burglar to “Get away from here or I’ll shoot you.” When Burglar recognizes who he is confronting, their antagonistic political relationship commences. After Burglar gains control of Postlethwaite’s pistol, these two men engage in a debate about war and peace from each man’s point of view.  While Burglar intends to escape with some of Postlethwaite’s treasures, he also obtains a check from the politician for The Navy League. Still not satisfied, Burglar also pushes Postlethwaite to admit “that violence will beget violence,” a position that the politician opposes. Eventually a Policeman arrives, but Postlethwaite decides not to expose the real intensions of  Burglar. As Burglar is about to leave with his loot, Postlethwaite demands to know his name so he may curse him. Burglar: “Oh, my name’s Peace. Charlie Peace.”

Obviously, this play is character centered and it creates an exaggerated, humorous situation   with deliberate absurdity. While this play is meant to be entertaining, it clearly illustrates an immediate clash of the two different positions regarding how England should be preparing for the possibility of war with Germany. Unfortunately, there is little of the comedic essence of this play in my short recount of the plot. PEACE is worth reading. The script is included in “Eight One-Act Plays” by George Calderon. It was originally published by Grant Richards LTD. London:1922. This book is currently available as a Scholar SELECT reprint through Amazon.

I have not found any information regarding a staged production of PEACE; however, there was a radio production aired on May 7,1925 presented by The London Radio Repertory.  Ashton Pearse played SIR BLENNERHASSETT POSTLETHWAITE and Raymond Trafford was BURGLAR. George Skillan (1893-1975) was POLICEMAN.

Calderon was a prolific author/playwright but many of his works remained unpublished during his lifetime. Throughout the 1920s many of his unpublished plays and books were published. Starting in 1921 his book titled Tahiti was published. It related to Calderon’s 1906 trip to the island and contains his observations about the culture he encountered. Percy Lubbock in his book titled: George Calderon: a sketch from memory, published in London 1921, claims that Calderon was affected very deeply by his days in Tahiti. “They gave him perhaps the most penetrating experience he ever had till the war.”  Tahiti was highly praised in the Pall Mall Gazette on August 5, 1921 as “the best story of a Polynesian people that has been given us.”

  

Two volumes of Calderon’s one-acts and full-length plays were published in 1922 followed in 1924 by his translations of Two Plays by Anton Chekhov and One by Alfred de Musset. This publication led to the London productions of the two Russian plays. Calderon’s translations were credited with introducing Chekhov as a new force to English theatre. During George Calderon’s forty-six years of life, he demonstrated his amazing versatility and accomplishment. His plays were frequently produced in England throughout the 1920s.

Percy Lubbock states in George Calderon: a sketch from memory:

     He seemed to be just as much of a poet, a maker, a creator, whether he was

     championing a political cause or writing a comedy or learning the songs of a

     South sea islander—and not less so, it was very clear to see, when he fought
     and fell in the war.
   

G. B. SHAW’S HEARTBREAK HOUSE

There was an article in London’s Observer on September 28, 1919 that captured what George Bernard Shaw’s newest published play could achieve.

‘Heartbreak House,’ Mr. Shaw writes in his preface, ‘is cultured, leisured Europe

 before the war,’ and the play, which is much better than the preface, fits that

 description very neatly.  It is his thirty-first play, and I am near in mind to call

 it his best play.  It certainly is the most bitter and wildly comic piece he has

 composed. When, in due time, it is performed, it will, I am sure, fill the theatre

 with explosions of laughter as loud as the explosions of the bombs with which

 the piece concludes.

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) wrote Heartbreak House between March 4, 1916 and May 1917. His subtitle for this play is “A Fantasia in the Russian Manner on English Themes.” Shaw admired Anton Chekov and utilized the country house setting for his play as did the Russian playwright. Shaw also desired to utilize similar character shortcomings employed by Chekov such as a character’s inability to achieve a desired goal as well as to hold a realistic view of a situation.
                                                                                                            

                                                               GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

In June 1919, Shaw wrote the preface for Heartbreak House just prior to its publication. His earlier political pamphlet (November 1914) titled “Common Sense About War” was controversial. His antiwar speeches were met with criticism. His next approach was to reveal his feelings about how the conditions leading to World War One were overlooked by the British cultured and governing classes partially due to their laxed attitudes about the world situation. These are the classes to which Shaw’s major Heartbreak House characters belong. Shaw presents this serious situation embedded in one of the most humorous plays written in the English language.

Act One takes place “on a fine evening at the end of September.” The time is six o’clock. The location is in the middle of northern Sussex. The countryside can be seen through the windows of a room “which has been built so as to resemble the after part of an old fashion high-pooped ship, with a stern gallery.” This home belongs to an old sea captain named Captain Shotover, who is the father of Hesione Hushabye and Lady Utterword. The latter daughter lives in Australia. Hesione has invited as her dinner guests young Ellie Dunn, her father and his employer Boss Mangan, who is engaged to Ellie. Hesione does not believe Ellie should marry Mangan who is much too old for her. Chaos ensues when Lady Utterwood arrives after not visiting her family for decades.

Act II is set after dinner that same evening. The setting is the same room as Act One. The act opens with a scene between Ellie and Mangan discussing their future marriage. Ellie is determined to marry Mangan even though each one is smitten with someone else. Mangan is in love with Hesione and Ellie is enamored with Mr. Hushabye, Hesione’s husband. After everyone drifts on stage, there is a commotion and a burglar is discovered in one of the bedrooms stealing jewelry.  Ellie’s father captures the burglar who is recognized by Captain Shotover and Nurse Guinness. None of the characters are what they each appear to be in the beginning, the burglar was once married to Nurse Guinness and had sailed with Captain Shotover. At the conclusion of the act, several of the male/female relationships have been altered and new alliances are forming.

Act Three is set in the garden. It is later that evening. The characters are enjoying the outdoor environment as well as their new pairings when “A dull distant explosion is heard.” The planes come closer and bombs are dropped in the garden. One bomb explodes in the area where Captain Shotover stores his dynamite. Unfortunately, Boss Mangan and the Burglar were hiding there. The play ends as Hesione states: “What a glorious experience!  I hope they’ll come again tomorrow night.”

Heartbreak House premiered in New York City on November 10, 1920 and it was produced by The Theatre Guild at the Garrick Theatre. The production was staged by Dudley Digges (1879-1947) who was born in Dublin and immigrated to the United States in 1904. He also played the role of Boss Mangan. This production was successful and ran for 125 performances.  All the New York reviews of this production were extremely positive.

Since its New York premier Heartbreak House has had four major revivals on Broadway—1938, 1959-60, 1983-84, and 2006.  It has had hundreds of productions in cities throughout the United States and it continues to this day to garner laughs as the actors usually dressed in their flapper era attire cavort on stage.

The second production of Heartbreak House opened at the Burg Theatre in Vienna on November 17, 1920.  I read an interesting account of the first night audience’s reaction to the drama.  It appeared in London’s Daily Herald on November 18, 1920 and was signed by Reuter. “The first act was applauded, but afterward the interest of the audience dwindled, and the later acts were hissed.” Reuter believed the irony of the play was apparently unappreciated or not understood.  Perhaps the length of the play also contributed to the lack of enthusiasm. In New York the Theatre Guild’s production ran nearly five hours before the final curtain.

The third international production opened in Stockholm before Heartbreak House was staged at the Court Theatre in London, where it opened on October 18, 1921.  The November 17, 1921 London Daily Herald ran an article titled “Brilliant Play Receives Inadequate Support.”  “Heartbreak House regarded by sound judges as one of Shaw’s best plays, is by no means drawing record houses and the end of the run appears to be in sight.”  This production had a run of only seven weeks.

However, Heartbreak House, did become a popular play in England after its initial run and it has 

had many productions in Great Britain over the past ninety-seven years. Worldwide, it may be 

the most produced play from this period.







PHOTO: taken from cover of reprinted copy of HEARTBREAK HOUSE that I read.  There was no
acknowledgement of source.