''The Valiant'' is a one-act play from the 1920s by

Holworthy Hall Holworthy Hall, in Harvard Yard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a historic dormitory for first-year students at Harvard College. History Holworthy was named in 1812 in honor of a wealthy English merchant, Sir Matthew Holworthy, who died in 1678 ...

and

Robert Middlemass Robert Middlemass (September 3, 1883 – September 10, 1949) was an American playwright and stage actor, and later character actor with over 100 film appearances, usually playing detectives or policemen.(13 Feb 1937)Mrs. Susan C. Middlemass ...

. It became a popular play for local theater groups, and is still performed today. The play was copyrighted in 1920Catalogue of Copyright Entries (last half of 1920
p. 1163 (1920) and first appeared in ''

McClure's ''McClure's'' or ''McClure's Magazine'' (1893–1929) was an American illustrated monthly periodical popular at the turn of the 20th century. The magazine is credited with having started the tradition of muckraking journalism ( investigative, wa ...

'' magazine in 1921."The Valiant"
''

'' (March 1921, p. 8) It first appeared on the stage about 1924, and first appeared on Broadway (for one night) in 1926. Running with success in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

(with

Bert Lytell Bertram Lytell (February 24, 1885 – September 28, 1954) was an American actor in theater and film during the silent film era and early talkies. He starred in romantic, melodrama, and adventure films. Background Born in New York City, Lyt ...

),(18 May 1929)
Bert Lytell's Old Act A Hit As Motion Picture
''Vaudeville News''Lawrence, Jerome. '' Actor: The Life and Times of Paul Muni'', p. 130 (1974) (full text not available online) it was made into a film of the same name in 1929 starring Paul Muni,Jones, Ken D., et al
Character People
p. 146 (1976) (full text not available online) ("Robert Middlemass appeared as a character actor in many films in the 1930s and 1940s, but he is known best as the author of The Valiant, a famous one-act play") and as '' The Man Who Wouldn't Talk'' in 1940. The play became a favorite for amateur and local theater groups.(23 Sept 2009
Holworthy Hall
Skaneateles (blog)McCulloh, T.H. (8 Nov 1995)
THEATER REVIEWS : 'Valiant' Locked in Another Era; No Reprieve in Execution
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

''(28 Jan 2014)
Student-directed ''The Valiant'' slated for SFA's Downstage Theatre
Stephen F. Austin University News (example of more recent performance)

Characters

Referred to on the script (their name in the play) *Father Daly (Father Daly) - a priest/minister who visits the condemned to get them to repent so they can enter heaven. *The Warden (Holt) - watches and takes care of the prisoners and escorts them to the execution room. *James Dyke (real name unconfirmed) - a mysterious condemned man who has no documented past and refuses to divulge it. *The Girl (Josephine Paris) - sister of a long lost brother who journeys to Connecticut to find out if Dyke is her brother. *The Jailer (Dan) - takes care of the scaffolds, keeps it in good order, and prepares the condemned for execution. *The Attendant (Wilson) - files, types and well is a secretary...

Summary

The play tells the story of James Dyke, a confessed

murderer Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the ...

who has been sentenced to die and now awaits his fate on death row at a prison in

Wethersfield, Connecticut Wethersfield is a town located in Hartford County, Connecticut. It is located immediately south of Hartford along the Connecticut River. Its population was 27,298 at the time of the 2020 census. Many records from colonial times spell the name ...

. The only problem is that no one knows who he really is or where he comes from, and he is determined to take his secret to the grave. The prison's warden and chaplain have nearly given up hope of discovering his true identity until the night of Dyke's execution when a strange young woman arrives requesting to see him. Now, she may be the only key to unlocking Dyke's mysterious past. Questions are asked, and vague answers are given. Truth, fiction, or both. One question focuses on Shakespeare which is denied outright. However, the woman leaves thinking that James is not her brother, but after she walks out, he recites lines from both Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar. We are left with the impression that he is indeed her brother and he did not want to reveal his true identity so that his mother would think that her son died nobly in the war. However, this is up to interpretation.

Performance and canonicity

''The Valiant'' is frequently listed and anthologized as a very suitable play for production at festivals, in educational programs for troubled kids, in high schools, and by amateur groups in schools or churches.

References

External links

*
''The Valiant''
''

'' (March 1921) {{DEFAULTSORT:Valiant 1924 plays