For Services Rendered

First edition (publ. Heinemann)

For Services Rendered is a play by Somerset Maugham. First performed in London in 1932, the play is about the effects of World War I on an English family.

The first performance was on 1 November 1932 in London's West End, at what was then known as the Globe Theatre (later renamed the Gielgud Theatre). The cast was Flora Robson, Cedric Hardwicke, C. V. France and Ralph Richardson.[1] The director was Barry Jackson.[2] The play's run at the Globe finished on 17 December 1932, and it transferred to the Queen's Theatre from 2 January 1933.[3]

The anti-war message was not popular with audiences, and the play only ran for 78 performances. The play is mentioned in the context of other plays inspired by the Great War in "A Wounded Stage: Drama and World War I", a 2006 book chapter by Mary Luckhurst,[4] and in British Theatre between the Wars, 1918-1939 (2000) by Clive Barker.[2] In the latter, Barker calls the play a "masterpiece of textured dramaturgy", while noting that it was a "categorical failure".[2] For Services Rendered is compared to contemporary plays in Modern British Drama: The Twentieth Century (2002) by Christopher D. Innes, where Innes says the play was "a counterblast to Noel Coward's Cavalcade".[5]

One of the earliest revivals of this play was the performances in 1946 at the New Lindsey Theatre in London, directed by Peter Cotes.[3] A TV adaptation (from Granada Television, directed by Henry Kaplan) was broadcast in 1959.[6] The later revivals of this play include performances at the Northcott Theatre in 1974,[2] performances at the Royal National Theatre in London in 1979,[7] and performances at the Old Vic Theatre in London in 1993.[1] The 1993 revival, initially performed at the Salisbury Playhouse, was presented by Deborah Paige, and the cast included Sylvia Syms and Jeffrey Segal.[8] A more recent revival was performed at the Watermill Theatre in Berkshire in 2007.[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 A William Somerset Maugham Encyclopedia (1997), Samuel J. Rogal, page 51, accessed at Google Books, 22/12/2010
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 British Theatre between the Wars, 1918-1939 (2000), Clive Barker, page 226, accessed at Google Books, 24/12/2010
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Theatrical Companion to Maugham: a pictoral record of first performances of the plays of W. Somerset Maugham (1955), Raymond Mander and Joe Mitchenson, accessed at Google Books, 24/12/2010
  4. ↑ "A Wounded Stage: Drama and World War I" by Mary Luckhurst, in A Companion to Modern British and Irish Drama, 1880-2005 (2006), Mary Luckhurst (Ed.), page 310, accessed at Google Books, 22/12/2010
  5. ↑ Modern British Drama: The Twentieth Century (2002), Christopher D. Innes, page 261, accessed at Google Books, 24/12/2010
  6. ↑ Play of the Week (ITV, 1956-66): For Services Rendered, Film & TV Database, British Film Institute, accessed 22/12/2010
  7. ↑ Somerset Maugham and his collection, National Theatre, accessed 24/12/2010
  8. ↑ Well-made to last: Paul Taylor on a revival of Somerset Maugham's For Services Rendered at the Old Vic, Paul Taylor, The Independent, 23 April 1993
  9. ↑ For Services Rendered, The Watermill Theatre, accessed 24/12/2010

External links