Great War Theatre

Examiner of Plays' Summary:

This 'charming story' of love and adventure' as it is modestly described, is even more preposterous than the average of melodramas. The villain is a German spy, as he obligingly informs the audience at once. He compels the heroine to marry him, to say her father from ruin, but she runs away at the Church door and hides. The villainess then appears and claims the villain as her husband, so the heroine is free to wed the hero. There is a suggestion (p53) that they spend a night together first. But I do not think that matters in such a welter of absurdity. The villain is foiled in trying to kidnap the heroine, to take her to Germany on the declaration of War. He turns up again on the marriage day, being then a German officer escaped from imprisonment, and persuades the villainess to tell the wedded pair that she is not his wife, so that they have committed bigamy. More attempted kidnapping, foiled by a little Belgian boy who had previously saved the hero's life and been given the Victoria Cross for it in spite of his nationality. The Belgian boy proves to be the lost child of the villain and villainess, and the heroine the lost child of the villainess by a former marriage. The hero dresses up as another German spy for no obvious reason and the villainess stabs the villain. Some of the comic relief is rather coarse, but there is nothing bad enough to cut out. Recommended for Licence. G. S. Street.

Licensed On: 13 May 1918

License Number: 1561

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British Library Reference: LCP1918/8

British Library Classmark: Add MS 66190 FF

Performances

Date Theatre Type
20 May 1918 Empire Theatre, Cawestry, Salop Unknown Licensed Performance