Widowers' Houses
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''Widowers' Houses'' (1892) was the first play by
George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...
to be staged. It premièred on 9 December 1892 at the
Royalty Theatre The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho. Established by the actress Frances Maria Kelly in 1840, it opened as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938.
, under the auspices of the Independent Theatre Society — a subscription club, formed to escape the
Lord Chamberlain's Office The Lord Chamberlain's Office is a department within the British Royal Household. It is concerned with matters such as protocol, state visits, investitures, garden parties, royal weddings and funerals. For example, in April 2005 it organised t ...
censorship.


Characters

*Harry Trench *William de Burgh Cokane *Mr. Sartorius *Lickcheese *Waiter *Porter *Blanche *The Parlor Maid


Plot

The play comprises three acts: In ''Act I'' a poor but aristocratic young doctor named Harry Trench and his friend William Cokane are holidaying at
Remagen Remagen () is a town in Germany in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, in the district of Ahrweiler (district), Ahrweiler. It is about a one-hour drive from Cologne, just south of Bonn, the former West Germany, West German seat of government. It i ...
on the Rhine. They encounter fellow travellers Mr Sartorius, a self-made businessman, and his daughter Blanche. Harry and Blanche fall in love and become engaged. ''Act II'' opens with everyone back at home in London. Sartorius, in talking to Mr Lickcheese, whom he employs as a rent-collector, reveals himself to be a slum landlord. He dismisses Lickcheese for dealing too leniently with tenants. Trench and Cokane arrive to visit, but when Trench discovers that Sartorius makes his money by renting slum housing to the poor, he is disgusted and refuses to allow Blanche to accept money from her father after they are married, insisting that they must live instead on Harry's small income. Following a bitter argument, they break up. Sartorius reveals that Trench's income depends on interest from mortgaged tenements, and is therefore as "dirty" as his own; but the lovers do not reconcile. Blanche utterly rejects Harry because of her wounded feelings. In ''Act III'', Trench, Cokane and Lickcheese return to Sartorius' house to plan a shady business venture. Trench, disillusioned and coarsened by knowing his income is tainted by its source, no longer takes the moral high ground. In the final scene, notable for its erotic tension, Harry and Blanche reunite.


Creation and publication

The play had originally been written in 1885 as a collaboration with William Archer; but the two fell out and this first attempt was abandoned. Shaw reorganised his fragments, and added a third act for the production, at the invitation of Jakub Grein. The name of the play comes from the Bible. Bernard Shaw wrote 17.11.1905 his first German translator Siegfried Trebitsch: "Get a Bible and look at Ev. Matthae XXIII, 14. "Weh euch, die Schriftgelehrte und Pharisäer, ihr Heuchler, die ihr der Witwen Hauser presset…" oe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye devour widows’houses…The play should be called „Witwen Hauser" or „Weh euch, ihr Heuchler", or something else out of the Bible. " This is one of three plays Shaw published as ''Plays Unpleasant'' in 1898. They were termed "unpleasant" because they were intended, not to entertain their audiences – as traditional Victorian theatre was expected to – but to raise awareness of social problems and to censure exploitation of the labouring class by the unproductive rich. The other plays in the group are '' The Philanderer'' and '' Mrs. Warren's Profession''.


Production history

The play was first performed at the
Royalty Theatre The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho. Established by the actress Frances Maria Kelly in 1840, it opened as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938.
by the Independent Theatre Society on 9 December 1892. The lead role was taken by W. J. Robertson. The play was performed in March 1907 in New York at the Herald Square Theatre. It was performed at the
Shaw Festival The Shaw Festival is a Charitable organization, Charitable theatre festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. It is the second largest repertory theatre company in North America, second only to Canada's Strat ...
in 2003. On 3 July 2011, a radio adaptation directed by Martin Jarvis was broadcast on
BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...
starring
Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. He has played roles on the screen and stage in genres ranging from Shakespearean dramas and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. He is regarded as a British cu ...
as Sartorius, Charles Dance as William Cokane,
Honeysuckle Weeks Honeysuckle Susan Weeks (born 1 August 1979) is a British actress best known for her role as Samantha Stewart (later Wainwright) in the ITV wartime drama series '' Foyle's War''. Early life Weeks was born in Cardiff, Wales, to Robin and Susan ...
as Blanche, Dan Stevens as Harry Trench and Tim Pigott-Smith as Lickcheese. It was performed in New York City at Theatre Row in March 2016 in a production with The Actors Company Theater and Gingold Theatrical Group. The production was directed by David Staller.


References


External links

* * * {{George Bernard Shaw 1892 plays Plays by George Bernard Shaw 1890s debut plays