Journey's End (Penguin Modern Classics)

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Olivier played the part again in 1934 at a special performance for a post-war charity, with Horne and Zucco from the original cast. See "Special Performance of 'Journey's End'", The Times, 3 November 1934, p. 10 Set over a period of four days from 18th – 21st March 1918, it recounts the experiences of the officers of a British Army company. The scenes take place in the trenches around Saint-Quentin in the days leading up to Operation Michael and the beginning of the German Spring Offensive. In the British trenches facing Saint-Quentin, Captain Hardy converses with Lieutenant Osborne, an older man and public school master, who has come to relieve him. Hardy jokes about the behaviour of Captain Stanhope, who has turned to alcohol to cope with the stress that the war has caused him. While Hardy jokes, Osborne defends Stanhope and describes him as "the best company commander we've got". Journey's End - the 2007 Broadway revival won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play Stanhope confiscates a letter from Raleigh, insisting on his right to censor it. Stanhope is in a relationship with Raleigh's sister and is worried that, in the letter, Raleigh will reveal Stanhope's growing alcoholism. Full of self-loathing, Stanhope accedes to Osborne's offer to read the letter for him. The letter is, in fact, full of praise for Stanhope. The scene ends with Stanhope quietly demurring from Osborne's suggestion to re-seal the envelope.

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 ]The play has been filmed several times, and a new version has just appeared. I look forward to it, as well as hoping to see Journey’s End on stage at some point.

Osborne says it’s time to do the handing over. Hardy explains how the infantry holds two hundred yards of the front line by showing him gun stations and sentry posts on a tattered map. Osborne says a new officer is coming up tonight. They discuss the poor-quality officers they receive, and Osborne says he hopes it’s a youngster straight from school, as they do best. They discuss the sleeping situation in the dugout. Hardy says you mustn’t hang your legs too low or rats will gnaw your boots. Osborne asks if there are many rats and Hardy says roughly two million, but he doesn’t see them all. Hardy details trench stores of rusty grenades, bombs, and mismatched gum boots.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. Sherriff, Robert Cedric (1962). The Wells of St. Mary's. Hutchinson Library Services. ISBN 0091174406. OCLC 7185868. It was not until 1929, eleven years after the end of World War I, that England had its first memorable "anti-war" play (Sean O'Casey's THE SILVER TASSIE being Irish) and that one was largely accidental. Robert C. Sherriff, a junior insurance was called upon by his boat club to write an all-male play and he complied with JOURNEY'S END. But, as soon as Sherriff tasted play-writing, he became enthused, abandoned insurance for artistic creativity, and persisted in marketing JOURNEY'S END until it was commercially produced. Once on the boards, it was a tremendous success, both popularly and critically, and Sherriff seemed destined to become one of England's most important post-war dramatists. Unfortunately, however, he was never able to match his first theatrical achievement. 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. 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.