The First World War in British Theatre

241 Pages·2016·1.34 MB·English

by  Nathan Finger

The First World War in
British Theatre

Nathan Gregory Finger

Macquarie University,
Department of English
In the Somme valley, the back of language broke. It could no longer carry its former
meanings. World War I changed the life of words and images in art, radically and
forever.
—ROBERT HUGHES

This thesis is submitted to Macquarie University in fulfilment of the requirements for a
Doctor of Philosophy in English. The work is entirely my own and has not been
submitted elsewhere for examination.

Signed:

Nathan Finger

Date:

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Acknowledgments

First and foremost thanks must go to Paul for the guidance and advice you gave every
step of way, especially in the wayward early days of this project. Without your help
I’m quite certain I never would have made it.

Second, to the people who endured living with me during this process. Anita, Tom and
Angela, that means you guys. You fed me and provided much needed social
interaction. But let’s face it, I really am the perfect housemate.

My comrade throughout all of this, Jenn. Whenever confusion set in, or things looked
dark, or I needed a second opinion on when to use a hyphen, you were always there. I
can’t imagine having done this without you. I think it made all the difference.

And finally, Mum and Dad, for a hundred thousand reasons that could never be listed.
For everything.
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Abstract

More than a century since its declaration, the First World War is universally accepted
as one of the defining events of the twentieth century. Socially, politically,
economically and culturally the war is viewed as having been a watershed and marks
the boundary between all facets of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Unsurprisingly, it has been depicted in every artistic medium, from novels, memoirs,
poems, theatre, film and the visual arts. Yet, while extensive scholarship exists for the
majority of these forms, the war’s portrayal in theatre has been largely overlooked as a
subject for study. The present project aims to redress this gap through an analysis of
the most influential and commercially successful plays to be staged in Britain, set
against the social atmosphere present at their time of production. What will become
apparent is that the manner in which the war has been portrayed has never settled, but
has remained in a constant state of flux.
The project will cover four distinct periods, beginning with the war’s enactment,
(1914-18). During this time the public’s understanding of the war was predicated on
mythic constructions. This was the result of former Victorian and Romantic literary
traditions and the widespread circulation of propaganda. The second period, (1919-
38), denotes a time when those who had served and returned home came to see the
mythic and romantic portrayals as inaccurate representations of their experiences.
Works produced during this period reveal a conscious effort to counter former
traditions by taking focus away from ennobled abstractions and placing them on the
object of experience. During the third period, (1960-80), new, revisionist historians
began to produce critiques of the conflict that cast the commanders and national
leaders as the true villains. They were seen as having been out of touch with the
realities of frontline conditions and overly reliant on out dated tactics. As a direct
result, the war came to be seen as progressively devoid of meaning. Since the 1980s it
has been accepted that the First World War was a meaningless conflict. However,
contemporary works bring focus to bear on a celebration of the male friendships that
formed during the war. In the face of a meaningless conflict soldiers are shown to
devote themselves to one another as a means of psychological survival. This final
period will reveal that a return to romantic traditions has occurred, albeit of a different
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variety from that seen during at the beginning of the century, bringing portrayals of the
war full circle.
Today there no longer remain any living persons with first-hand experience of
the war, and so the manner through which society constructs an understanding of the
event must come from texts that portray it. As such, history itself will be shown to be a
constantly shifting and evolving entity. Through performing an in-depth analysis of
the selected plays and the broader themes pertinent at the time of their composition,
this study will reveal that the theatre surrounding the Great War both responds to and
exerts its own shaping influence on social attitudes; an influence that has been as
culturally significant as any other work from any other artistic form.
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Contents

Introduction 1

The War in Context 13

Chapter I – The Mythical War, 1914-18 21
Propaganda & Myth 23
Theatre 48
J. M. Barrie’s The New Word 53
Maurice Maeterlinck’s The Mayor of Stilemonde 60
Eugene O’Neill’s The Sniper 65

Chapter II – Myth Under Siege, 1919-38 76
Shell Shock 79
Eugene O’Neill’s Shell Shock 86
R. C. Sherriff’s Journey’s End 91
Sean O’Casey’s The Silver Tassie 101
W. Somerset Maugham’s For Services Rendered 108

Chapter III – War from Within, 1960-80 121
Re-evaluation of the War 123
Joan Littlewood & Theatre Workshop’s Oh, What a Lovely War! 133
Satire 151

Chapter IV – Celebration of Friendship, 1981-2013 160
Friendship 163
Frank McGuinness’ Observe the Sons 174
Nick Whitby’s To the Green Fields Beyond 187
Nick Stafford’s War Horse 196
Laurence Stallings & Maxwell Anderson’s What Price Glory? 204

Conclusion 213

Appendix – Production List 219
Works Cited 223
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Introduction

So we plunged into the romance of battle.
—WYNDHAM LEWIS

More than a century since its declaration, the First World War is universally accepted
as one of the defining events of the twentieth century. Socially, politically,
economically and culturally the war is viewed as having been a watershed, and is
popularly seen as the boundary between all facets of the ninetieth and twentieth
centuries. Because of this significance a great deal of effort has been expended in
attempts to make meaning out of the war and the socio-political and cultural impacts it
had. These efforts have not been restricted to social and military historians; equally it
has proven to be a source of rumination and inspiration for artists also struggling to
come to terms with its effects. The war has been depicted in every artistic medium,
from novels, memoirs, poems, theatre, film and the visual arts. Today there no longer
remains any living persons who served during the war, and so the manner through
which society constructs an understanding of the event must come from the historical
and cultural texts that portray it.
This study will seek to make an examination of those cultural texts with
particular focus on theatrical portrayals, primarily from the British perspective.
Undeniably responses to the war have been vastly different across both time and
between cultures. In an attempt to maintain consistency in this study I have restricted
its scope to an Allied, and principally British, perspective. Britain of course represents
the English-speaking nation that arguably had the most intimate involvement in the
war, not only in terms of geographical proximity, but also in terms of lives lost and
resources committed. Additionally, as this project’s discipline is English Literature1
only texts originally composed in English will be considered for extended analysis.2
Furthermore, as a study in English Literature, military histories will be largely set

1 This study will engage with the selected texts as published pieces of theatre. In other words, it is more
interested in the works as texts than as performances. Although the performance aspect of the plays will
not be overlooked, it will constitute a secondary role.
2 With the exception of Maeterlinck’s The Mayor of Stilemonde: to be addressed in chapter one.
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aside, with focus instead being placed on theatrical productions and how they
pertained to the cultural moods of their time. Having said this, certain histories will be
taken into consideration when they provide the opportunity to gain greater insight into
the selected theatrical pieces. This will be shown to be the case in chapter three, when
the historical writings of Arthur Conan Doyle, John Buchan, Leon Wolff and Alan
Clark will be considered.
While historical writings certainly provide insight into a past event, texts
produced for entertainment and artistic purposes have just as an important role to play
in shaping a public’s perception. However, the difficulty inherent in any attempt to
construct an understanding of the First World War lies in the fact that the past is not
set in stone. Rather, it is a constantly shifting and evolving entity that has meant
different things to different people at different times. Therefore, the purpose of this
study is not to sketch a definitive meaning of the war, nor to construct a picture that
reflects the reality of the event, but instead to chart the altering portrayals of the war in
theatre, from its declaration in 1914 to the present day, thereby revealing how it has
been perceived, understood and existed in the imagination of a public that has been
largely removed from its realities. Further, it will be shown that the public’s changing
perceptions of the war have likewise been influenced by its portrayal in theatre.
Because of the mutually dependent relationship between audience and artwork,
there is scope for the inclusion of plays composed by authors outside of Britain if they
have had either a substantial impact on British audiences, or if their composition had
been influenced by the prevailing British mood of the day.3 Indeed, the British Isles
are not cut off from the wider world, and works that grace its stages have an equal
capacity for impact as any other play originating in that country. This will be shown to
be the case with works such as The Silver Tassie and The Mayor of Stilemonde, and we
will even see the reverse take place with Eugene O’Neill’s The Sniper and Shell Shock,
two pieces, which although never presented to a British audience, were nevertheless
influenced by the social mood prevalent in Britain at the time of their composition.
If our perceptions of history can be influenced by artistic portrayals, it starts to
become apparent that the way language is used to describe an event can be of far
greater importance than what actually happened. This explains, in part, why

3 Although this project will consider plays primarily composed by British authors, there will also be
some inclusion from other allied nations, particularly Ireland and the United States of America.
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