After The War

Examiner of Plays' Summary:

I do not know why this play is called a ‘comedy-drama’: it has indeed a superabundance of very poor comic relief but the plot is ordinary melodrama of a violent, but not unpleasantly violent, type. The idea of it is one which is frequently used now: i.e. The heroine thinks she has killed the first villain without meaning it, and the second villain, having effectually slain him, blackmails the heroine. In this case the heroine had married the first villain to ‘save’ her father, and would have married the second villain to save herself from the charge of murder, had not the hero discovered the second villain’s guilt by bribing a third villain. Then the second villain goes mad - the only novelty in the play - and kills himself. Meanwhile the villainess has a very poor run for her money, being merely the discarded mistress of villain No. 1 and trying to make mischief between the hero and heroine with a success which only lasts for a few pages. The play is called ‘after the war’, but the war is going on at the time: if the title means that it will be played after the war the authors are sanguine. Both villains are German spies, but their spying has nothing to do with the matter. The rubbish is harmless. Recommended for license. G. S. Street

Researcher's Summary:

Monday - Wednesday. Saturday. Francis Daniels presents Miss Cissie Bellamy and Company in the Play of new ideas written on the subject of England's Danger Not Now But "After the War." Special note - this is Not the Greatest Play on Earth But One Well Worth Seeing. (Consett Guardian - Friday 13 July 1917)