Great War Theatre

Performances at this Theatre

Date Script Type
17 Nov 1932 Sacrifice Amateur
Read Narrative
‘The United Missionary Sale, organised on behalf of the funds the Church Missionary Society and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, was held in St. Nicholas’ Parochial Hull, Kenilworth, yesterday (Thursday) afternoon [17 November 1932] ... The two plays presented in the evening drew an enormous attendance. Chairs were ranged right up to the stage, and the back of the hall crammed with people unable to find seats. The Youth Fellowship presented “Sacrifice,” by Rabindranath Tagore, a play which clearly shows the influence that Christianity had on the famous Hindoo poet. The plot, plainly stated, savours of a modern “thriller,” but Tagore’s treatment reflects none of the hurry and bustle and swift sequence of events found in writers of the modern “thriller” school. Indeed, the conspiracies and villainies that arise in the play are as nothing against the magnitude of the question of religious morality that forms its background. The loveliness of the language and the noble treatment of the moral question make “Sacrifice” a great contribution to religious thought from a so-called heathen. Two players - Miss Saunder, who. took the part of the Queen, and R. Peace, whose part was that of Jaising, the boy priest – showed the greatest feeling for the language. E. F. Swann also gave a distinguished performance. The performers were: - Gunavati (the queen), Miss Saunder; Raghupati (the priest), W. Buswell; Govinda (the king), A. Bourne; Jaising (boy priest), R. Peace; Aparna (beggar girl), Miss Wood; Mayan Rai (general), J. Soden; Nakshatra (king’s brother), E. F. Swann; Chandpal (2nd in command), D. Ward; minister, L. Maxwell; attendant on queen, Miss Barton; attendant on king, L. Wilson; Druva, L. Meadows …’ (Leamington Spa Courier, 18 November 1932). The Coventry Herald, 25 November 1932, published a photograph of the cast.