''For Services Rendered'' is a play by

Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

. First performed in London in 1932, the play is about the effects of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

on an English family.

Characters

*Leonard Ardsley *Charlotte Ardsley, Leonard’s wife *Sydney Ardsley, blinded during World War One *Eva Ardsley *Lois Ardsley *Ethel Bartlett *Howard Bartlett, Ethel’s husband *Collie Stratton *Wilfred Cedar *Gwen Cedar, Wilfred’s wife *Dr Charles Prentice, Charlotte’s brother *Gertrude

Synopsis

Set in late summer 1932 in Kent, the Ardsley family seem to be managing their lives very well following World War One and the Great Depression. In reality, each of them is fighting for survival. Leonard and Charlotte Ardsley are parents to Ethel, Eva, Sydney and Lois. Ethel is married to a former officer, Howard Bartlett, who returns to his position as a tenant farmer after the war. His class is a source of disharmony between Ethel’s family and her husband. Howard drinks excessively and he attempts to seduce his wife’s younger sister, Lois. Although Ethel is disillusioned, she finds solace in her children. Her marriage disproves the expectation that the war would bring about better social mobility. Sydney has been blinded in the war; his main occupation now is sitting in a chair whilst knitting. It is Sydney who speaks directly about the madness of war and its devastating effects upon his generation. Eva is unmarried and approaching forty, martyring herself to the cause of brother, Sydney. Collie Stratton, after a lengthy period serving his country in the Navy, has invested in a motorcar repair shop. However, a naval career has left him ill-prepared to run a business and this proves his undoing. Not realizing it would be illegal, and thinking that it would buy him time to solve his cash-flow problems, Collie writes cheques to creditors despite knowing that his bank will refuse to cash them. Leonard Ardsley informs him he has broken the law and that he will be tried and imprisoned. Eva, who is in love with Collie, proposes to give him money she has saved in order to clear his debts. She asks him to become engaged to her so that he can accept the gift. Collie refuses. Facing prison and disgrace he shoots himself. On hearing of his suicide, Eva holds her family responsible because none of them offered help or support. She pretends to have been engaged to Collie. By the end of the play, Eva has entered into a delusional state, believing truly that she will soon be leaving with her fiancé, Collie. Lois, at twenty-seven years old, is single and without a hope of finding a husband in the English backwater in which the family live. She is however receiving attention from the married Wilfred Cedar. Wilfred’s wife, Gwen, is tortured by his attraction to Lois. She sees Lois wearing a pearl necklace and despite assurances by Lois that the pearls are fake, she realises that her own husband has gifted the pearls to Lois. Gwen’s fears are later realised when, listening in on the telephone, she hears Lois agreeing to run away with Wilfred. She confronts Lois in the presence of Lois’s mother and sister and pleads with Lois to give up Wilfred, accusing all the family (who defend Lois) of wishing to bring Wilfred’s money into their family. Lois decides to keep to her plan despite Gwen's pleas, and despite the scandal it will cause, not because she loves Wilfred, but because she enjoys the power she has over Wilfred and the way she can exploit him in order to achieve material security and independence from the family. The younger generation can no longer live their lives in the blueprint of the older generation, they must find a new way of living. England is changing, falling apart, and must begin again. Charlotte is diagnosed by her doctor brother, Charles Prentice as having an unnamed condition, probably cancer, which requires an operation and home care in order to prolong her life. Charlotte refuses treatment so that her family are not burdened with the expense but also because she feels a sense of liberation and self-possession in deciding her fate for herself. ‘I’m rather relieved to think it’s over. I’m not at home in this world of today. I’m pre-War. Everything’s so changed now. To me life is like a party that was very nice to start with but has become rather rowdy as time went on and I’m not at all sorry to go home.’ Leonard, who is oblivious to the true states of any of the members of his family ends the play with a cup of tea and a blithely optimistic speech about the future, ‘If you come to think of it we none of us have anything very much to worry about. We have our health, we have our happiness, and things haven’t been going too well lately, but I think the world is turning the corner and we can all look forward to better times in the future. This old England of ours isn’t done yet and I for one believe in it and all it stands for.’ Delusional Eva sings ''God Save Our King'' and the curtain falls.

Original production

The first performance was on 1 November 1932 in the West End of London, at the

Globe Theatre The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend, and gra ...

(later renamed the Gielgud Theatre).''A William Somerset Maugham Encyclopedia'' (1997), Samuel J. Rogal
page 51
accessed at Google Books, 22/12/2010 The cast was: *Leonard Ardsley –

C. V. France Charles Vernon France (30 June 1868 – 13 April 1949) was a British actor, usually credited as C. V. France. Stage career France appeared (along with Ralph Richardson) in William Somerset Maugham's 1932 play ''For Services Rendered: A Play ...

*Charlotte Ardsley –

Louise Hampton Louise Hampton (23 December 1879 – 10 February 1954) was a British actress. Although her career began when she was a child, it was for "the pathos and dignity of her elderly, motherly roles""Obituary: Louise Hampton", ''The Stage'', 18 Februar ...

*Sydney – Cedric Hardwicke *Eva –

Flora Robson Dame Flora McKenzie Robson (28 March 19027 July 1984) was an English actress and star of the theatrical stage and cinema, particularly renowned for her performances in plays demanding dramatic and emotional intensity. Her range extended from q ...

*Lois – Marjorie Mars *Ethel Bartlett – Diana Hamilton *Howard Bartlett– W. Cronin-Wilson *Collie Stratton –

Ralph Richardson Sir Ralph David Richardson (19 December 1902 – 10 October 1983) was an English actor who, with John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, was one of the trinity of male actors who dominated the British stage for much of the 20th century. He wo ...

*Wilfred Cedar –

S. J. Warmington Stanley James Warmington (16 December 1884 – 10 May 1941), or just S. J. Warmington, was an English actor who appeared on film, stage, radio, and television in the early 20th century. Life and career Warmington was born in Hertfordshire, Engla ...

*Gwen Cedar –

Marda Vanne Marda "Scrappy" Vanne (born Margaretha van Hulsteyn;One source, a close friend, spells her name "Margueretha". 27 September 1896 – 27 April 1970) was a South African actress who found fame in London. Early life Margaretha was born in Pretoria, ...

*Dr Prentice –

David Hawthorne David Hawthorne (born May 14, 1985) is a former American football linebacker. He was signed by the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played college football at TCU. Professional career Seattle Seahawks Hawthorne receive ...

::Source: ''The Times''. The director was Barry Jackson.''British Theatre between the Wars, 1918–1939'' (2000), Clive Barker
page 226
accessed at Google Books, 24/12/2010 The play's run at the Globe finished on 17 December 1932, and it transferred to the Queen's Theatre from 2 January 1933.
Theatrical Companion to Maugham: a pictorial record of first performances of the plays of W. Somerset Maugham
' (1955), Raymond Mander and Joe Mitchenson, accessed at Google Books, 24/12/2010

Revivals

One of the earliest revivals of this play was the performances in 1946 at the New Lindsey Theatre in London, directed by

Peter Cotes Peter Cotes (19 March 1912 – 10 November 1998) was an English director, producer, actor, writer and production manager. Cotes was born as Sydney Boulting in Maidenhead, Berkshire. His brothers John and Roy Boulting became noted film makers. ...

. A TV adaptation (from

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...

, directed by

Henry Kaplan Henry Kaplan (September 13, 1926 – September 14, 2005) was a television director known for his works on ''Dark Shadows'', ''Ryan's Hope'', '' The Doctors'' and ''All My Children''. He also directed seven episodes of the sitcom ''The Adventure ...

) was broadcast in 1959. The later revivals of this play include performances at the

Northcott Theatre The Northcott Theatre is a theatre situated on the Streatham Campus of the University of Exeter, Exeter, Devon, England. It opened in 1967 and was run until 2010 by the Northcott Theatre Foundation, when the company ceased operating after a pe ...

in 1974, performances at the

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

in London in 1979, and performances at the

Old Vic Theatre The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, nonprofit organization, not-for-profit producing house, producing theatre in Waterloo, London, Waterloo, London, England. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Th ...

in London in 1993. The 1993 revival, initially performed at the

Salisbury Playhouse Salisbury Playhouse is a theatre in the English city of Salisbury, Wiltshire. It was built in 1976 and comprises the 517-seat Main House and the 149-seat Salberg, a rehearsal room and a community & education space. It is part of Arts Council En ...

, was presented by Deborah Paige, and the cast included

Sylvia Syms Sylvia May Laura Syms (born 6 January 1934) is an English actress, best known for her roles in the films ''Woman in a Dressing Gown'' (1957), ''Ice Cold in Alex'' (1958), ''No Trees in the Street'' (1959), ''Victim'' (1961), and ''The Tamari ...

and

Jeffrey Segal Jeffrey Segal (1 August 1920 – 5 February 2015) was an English actor and scriptwriter. He made his first screen appearance, as an extra, in the film '' Jew Süss'' (1934). From the early 1960s onwards he appeared in many British TV series, ...

. More recent revivals were performed at the

Watermill Theatre The Watermill Theatre is a repertory theatre in Bagnor, Berkshire. It opened in 1967 in Bagnor Mill, a converted watermill on the River Lambourn. As a producing house, the theatre has produced works that have subsequently moved on to the We ...

in Berkshire in 2007, the Union Theatre in 2011, and the Chichester Festival Theatre in 2015. A new performance for the London stage is at

Jermyn Street Theatre Jermyn Street Theatre is a performance venue situated on Jermyn Street, in London's West End. It is an off-west end studio theatre. History Jermyn Street Theatre opened in August 1994. It was formerly the changing rooms for staff at a Spaghetti ...

from 6 September to 5 October 2019.

Criticism

The

anti-war An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to pa ...

message was not popular with audiences, and the play only ran for 78 performances. The play is mentioned in the context of other plays inspired by the Great War in "A Wounded Stage: Drama and World War I", a 2006 book chapter by

Mary Luckhurst Mary Luckhurst is a writer, academic, and theatre director. She is Professor of Theatre and Performance and is the first female Head of the School of Arts at the University of Bristol. She is known for her academic and educational work in the ar ...

, and in ''British Theatre between the Wars, 1918–1939'' (2000) by Clive Barker. In the latter, Barker calls the play a "masterpiece of textured dramaturgy", while noting that it was a "categorical failure". ''For Services Rendered'' is compared to contemporary plays in ''Modern British Drama: The Twentieth Century'' (2002) by Christopher D. Innes, where Innes says the play was "a counterblast to Noel Coward's '' Cavalcade''". ‘The play is particularly extraordinary viewed in retrospect as the lessons of World War One are written so clearly across the lives of the characters who, less than a decade later, would find themselves at war again.’

References

External links

Script from the Open Library
{{W. Somerset Maugham 1932 plays Plays by W. Somerset Maugham Plays about World War I Heinemann (publisher) books West End plays