The Alien Enemy
Examiner of Plays' Summary:
This is an extremely ingenuous spy-play, telling the simple-minded story of a wicked Hun who, posing as a Belgian, gets into his toils a foolish and bankrupt English gentleman, the Hon. Percy Harwood, from whom he buys a ruined cottage on the coast of Kent for the purpose of air-raid signalling. The sentimental interest is supplied by his scheme for the marrying of the Hon. Percy’s daughter, who is engaged to the son of a French dramatic tutor. For a time the villainy prospers; but the Frenchman, plotting on behalf of his son's lady-love, manages, by posing as a German spy from Alsace, to worm into the confidences of the real 'alien enemy', and upset his plans; with the result that in the end, the villain is killed by one of the zeppelins for which he has signalled. The play is crude silly stuff, raw in characterization and incredible in incident. But it is sound in patriotic purpose, and - except to Germans - wholly void of offence. Recommended for licence. Ernest A. Bendall.
Researcher's Summary:
The GWT database has an entry for a play ‘The Alien Enemy’ with no author shown, due to be performed at the Royal Court Theatre, Warrington, on 11 November 1918. However, the play which was performed on that occasion was ‘The Alien’ by the Canadian writer W. A. Tremayne. Details of the characters and plot of Tremayne’s ‘The Alien’ in newspaper reviews show that this was the play described by the Examiner of Plays and listed in the GWT database as the apparently anonymous ‘The Alien Enemy’. The Stage, 31 October 1918, reported a performance of ‘Ghosts’ in May 1918 by the Montreal Stage Society in Montreal in which Tremayne had played Pastor Manders. The Stage continued: ‘Mr. W. A. Tremayne is the well-known Canadian dramatist, whose plays are too numerous to mention here … Mr. Tremayne’s latest success is The Alien, which Mr. Paul Cazeneuve produced in Montreal, June 3, 1918, at His Majesty’s, of which one critic wrote:- “Few authors have written a better topical play on the spur of the moment, nor one which so thoroughly bids fair to have a whirlwind career”’. Nevertheless only three performance weeks have been identified in England and an apparently mooted London production seems not to have materialised. There is a biography of Tremayne at http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/tremayne_william_andrew_16E.html.
Licensed On: 4 Nov 1918
License Number: 1842
Genre(s):
Keyword(s):
British Library Reference: LCP1918/19
British Library Classmark: Add MS 66201 A
Performances
| Date | Theatre | Type | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 Nov 1918 | Royal Court Theatre, Warrington | Professional |
Licensed Performance
Read Narrative
‘In the last number of “The Stage” special reference was made in the Canadian Notes to the dramatic work of H. A. [sic – W. A.] Tremayne, particularly in regard to his latest masterpiece, “The Alien,” which has just met with an immediate success in Canada. The play is an exceptionally strong one, full of love and dramatic incident, and is an eye-opener to the subtle machinations of the enemy alien working in our midst. Thanks to that powerful dramatic actor, W. S. Hartford, the play has been brought to this country, and it will be produced for the first time on England at the Royal Court Theatre on Monday next, where it will be played for one week on a short tour prior to its production in London. The cast will include that well known and charming actress, Miss Ida Strathan [sic – Stratham], and Mr. W. S. Hartford will be further supported by such distinguished artistes as Miss Theresa Osborne and Mr. Ronald Bayne, &c. A wonderful piece of scenic mechanism, representing an alien Zeppelin signalling station on the coast, will be introduced in the fourth act, and the play, which is full of absorbing situations, played by such a powerful London company, will no doubt meet with full appreciation in Warrington’. Runcorn Examiner, 9 November 1918; also the Widnes Examiner of the same date.
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| 25 Nov 1918 | Theatre Royal, St Helens | Professional |
Read Narrative
‘Mr. W. A. Tremayne’s new play, “The Alien,” which was only produced at Warrington last week [sic], was presented at the Theatre on Monday, and was accorded a reception which justifies the belief that it will prove a great success. The story has originality and power to interest, the dialogue is quite distinctive, and the characters, a dozen in number, are all types of real flesh and blood. Briefly, “The Alien” introduces us to one John Hartman, who poses as a wealthy Belgian banker and financier, living in London, but who in reality is a German spy, working for the Fatherland. He works shrewdly and cleverly, but in the end he is suspected, and his villainy is unmasked in an ingenious way. There are four acts, and the fourth is full of dramatic surprise. The company presenting the piece is good in every respect. At its head is Mr. W. S. Hartford, an accomplished actor, who achieves the utmost effect with a minimum of effort. He lives rather than acts his part. He is most ably supported by Miss Ida Stratham, whose acting possesses charm and distinction. Mr. Ronald Bayne plays the role of the spy admirably; there is, it is to be said to his credit, very little of the conventional stage villain about him. He is quiet and unobtrusive, yet nevertheless effective. We like, too, the presentation of a young British officer, with its suggestion of sangfroid, by Mr. Edward Neason, who makes love in frank, unaffected fashion. The role of a young American with more dollars than pedigree is ably assumed by Mr Bert J. Wilson; and the Hon. Percy Harwood is well played by Mr. Sydney Burt. Of the others, Miss Denny Fitzherbert presents a faithful picture of the landlady of a London boarding-house; and Miss Theresa Osborne, as Mary Carson, as the maid with a history, fills her part most satisfactorily. “The Alien” is nicely mounted, and should with ordinary luck have a successful run’. St Helens Newspaper & Advertiser, 29 November 1918.
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| 2 Dec 1918 | Theatre Royal, Halifax | Professional |
Read Narrative
‘This patriotic play [“The Alien”] is staged at the premier entertainment house [the Theatre Royal]. The author, Mr. W. A. Tremayne, has written a very entertaining drama which does not demand too much credulity from his audience. On the contrary, he follows closely on the lines with which German warfare, espionage and financial intrigue have made us more or less familiar. In addition, one could scarcely imagine a more convincing picture of French patriotism than that of Louis Le Roy, the Alsatian, and this role in the capable hands of Mr. W. S. Hartford is distinctly noteworthy. It is a play worthy of much better support than that accorded to it on the opening night. Mr. Hartford must also be credited with having drawn together a very capable all-round company, and this is strongly emphasised in the parts of Miss T. Osborne (Mary Carson), Miss Ida Straham (Laura Harwood), Miss D. Fitzherbert (Mrs. Parker) who supplied the comedy element in very approved style, and Mr. R. Rayne [sic – Bayne], who as a sham Belgian, otherwise a millionaire German agent, sustained his part with the requisite amount of genteel villainy. The settings and the costumes are really first-class and it can only be repeated that “The Alien” is a play well worth of public patronage. The drama is prefaced with an amusing one-act comedy, “O’Callaghan,” in which Mr. Hartford depicts a ruined Irish landlord as to the manner born’. Halifax Evening Courier, 3 December 1918.
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