Journey's End (Penguin Modern Classics)

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This is a WWI classic play that was not going anywhere, simply because it had no female part. Finally when actor Laurence Olivier took the lead, the play became popular.

He added: “You get pretty much mixed audiences now. Women might not buy history books about the first world war, but they would go and see that play.” It is, in some respects, the World War One experience we have come to know the most, which is the Officers war. There are non-Officers in the play, but one of them is played mostly for comic relief, which is Mason, the Cook. There's a Sargeant Major, who features briefly. Trotter, one of the Officers, is a more middle-class man. Osborne - or Uncle - is a schoolteacher. But our main focuses are Stanhope and Raleigh, who were a public school together. Stanhope has been at the front for three solid years and is barely holding it together. Whisky keeps him afloat.There's tension here, sights and sounds of a terrible war, mixed with moments of friendship, camaraderie and the routines of normal English life. Still, everyone is on edge - some more than others - as they await the inevitable. During dinner, Trotter decides to make a chart representing the remaining hours until he and his fellow officers can leave the trenches. On a paper he draws 144 circles, intending to fill them in as the hours pass. By the end of dinner, only Stanhope and Osborne remain in the dugout, and Stanhope is exceedingly drunk. He admits that he’s afraid Raleigh will write to his sister—who’s waiting for Stanhope to return—and tell her about his drinking. Stanhope declares that he’s going to censor Raleigh’s letters, and Osborne puts his drunken friend to bed. After supper that evening Stanhope confided to Osborne that he was fearful of young Raleigh's opinion, and he declared that he meant to censor all the young officer's mail, lest Raleigh reveal to his sister the kind of man Stanhope, her fiance, had become. Stanhope was bitter that Raleigh had landed in his company when there were so many others in France to which he might have been assigned. He was also concerned over Lieutenant Hibbert, another officer who was malingering in an effort to get sent home to England. Stanhope, who hated a quitter, resolved that Hibbert should be forced to stay. Vahimagi, Tise (1994). British Television: An Illustrated Guide. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p.8. ISBN 978-0-19-818336-5.

In this passage, Osborne tries to warn Raleigh that his heroic image of Stanhope may not match Stanhope's present, battle-addled condition. The difficulty Osborne has in articulating the statement is significant, as it speaks to how Osborne would not like to undermine Stanhope's authority by spreading doubt about his mental condition, while he nonetheless wants the bright-eyed Raleigh not to grow disillusioned. Goodbye, Mr. Chips – which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay along with his co-writers Claudine West, Eric Maschwitz Sherriff read history at New College, Oxford, from 1931 to 1934. [10] [11] He was a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the Society of Antiquaries of London. [12] Career [ edit ] Playwright [ edit ] The play premiered at the Apollo Theatre in London on 9th December 1928, starring a very young Laurence Olivier as Captain Stanhope. In 2017, it was adapted into a film starring Sam Claflin in the same role.Often it is the futility and senselessness of war that makes you appreciate the value of life and the beauty of nature which you earlier might not have. In how many colours have you seen the sun rising and setting? Read how Osborne feels in the following quote: Curtis, James (1998). James Whale: A New World of Gods and Monsters. Boston: Faber and Faber. p.71. ISBN 0-571-19285-8. It might sound like I'm being harsh on this play for some of its class assumptions, but it also shows that the war affected everyone. Soldiers of all classes and all ranks died on the battlefields of World War One. Indeed, the casualty rate amongst frontline officers was horrific. Worse than the ordinary ranks as a percentage. So, if this story is the usual story then that's to be accepted. Because it is a moving story. You do feel for the characters and you sense the oncoming story. Raleigh explains the long twisting route through the trenches he took to reach the dugout. It began in a house’s cellar and then crossed the plains. Green lights bobbed up in the sky along the front. Osborne says they are Very lights, used by both sides to light up No Man’s Land to watch for raids and patrols. They agree the lights are rather romantic; Osborne says it helps to think of it all as romantic. Mason enters and apologizes: the tin of pineapple turned out to contain apricots. He says he knows the captain can’t stand apricots.

Stevens, Christopher (2010). Born Brilliant: The Life of Kenneth Williams. John Murray. p.264. ISBN 978-1-84854-195-5. Geoffrey Dearmer of the Incorporated Stage Society suggested that Sherriff send the script to George Bernard Shaw, because a good word from him would convince the ISS committee to stage it. [1] Shaw replied that, like other sketches of trench life, it was a "useful [corrective] to the romantic conception of war", and that "As a 'slice of life' – horribly abnormal life – I should say let it be performed by all means". [1] Colin Clive as Stanhope in the 1929 production of Journey's End, directed by James WhaleGore-Langton, Robert (2013). Journey's End: the classic war play explored. London: Oberon. ISBN 9781849433952.

At no point do we leave the dugout, not even to enter the war's notorious trenches per se, yet sounds of the war are heard throughout every scene. It's a claustrophobic, intense situation and story. Apparently Sherriff originally wanted to title it Suspense or Waiting, which are actually better titles in some ways. The original manuscript for the play is part of IWM’s collection and the First World War galleries at IWM London contain many objects connected with the events and themes explored in the play. It is decided that Osborne and Raleigh will be the officers to go on the raid, despite the fact that Raleigh has only recently entered the war. Laurence Olivier starred as Stanhope in the first performance of "Journey's End" in 1928; the play was an instant stage success and remains a remarkable anti-war classic.Sherriff was nominated along with Eric Maschwitz and Claudine West for an Academy award for writing an adapted screenplay for Goodbye, Mr. Chips which was released in 1939. [22] His 1955 screenplays, The Dam Busters and The Night My Number Came Up were nominated for best British screenplay BAFTA awards. [23] Work [ edit ] Plays [ edit ] In 2015 the Shute Theatre and Arts Guild (STAG) staged a production of the play in St Michael's Church, Shute, Devon, directed by Elisabeth Miller. [15] Originally Robert Sherriff had no literary ambitions, and JOURNEY'S END was written to be used by a group of amateurs who were interested in dramatics. At that time Sherriff was an insurance claims adjuster. The play grew out of letters Sherriff had written to his family during World War I, when he served as an officers in the British Army. On a chance suggestion, JOURNEY'S END was sent to George Bernard Shaw, who helped to get the play produced. It was an immense success; at one time there were nine companies playing it in the United States and England. The play made the author famous, and he became a professional writer. Although he has written other plays and novels, none has been as successful as JOURNEY'S END. The Story: Osborne reads Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” during his rest hours for enjoyment and escapism. He reads loudly so that Trotter too can hear it.