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Heartbreak House: A Fantasia in the Russian Manner on English Themes is a play written by Bernard Shaw during the First World War, published in 1919 and first performed in November 1920 at the Garrick Theatre, New York, followed by a West End production the following year.
The play reflects Shaw's disillusion with post-war Britain. It contrasts cultured but self-absorbed and politically irresponsible people on the one hand and aggressive philistines on the other. Heartbreak House contains a self-mocking depiction of Shaw himself in the central character, Captain Shotover.
In 1920 the New-York based Theatre Guild asked Shaw for the rights to revive The Devil's Disciple, but instead he offered the Guild the premiere of Heartbreak House, though warning them that instead of pleasing the public for two hours, the play would "put the utmost strain upon their attention for three and send them home exhausted but impressed".Laurence, Dan. "Bernard Shaw and the American Theater: A Projected Study", The Independent Shavian, Vol. 11, No. 1 (Fall 1972), pp. 1–4
Shaw, generally a quick writer, had taken an uncharacteristically long time to write Heartbreak House (originally entitled The Studio in the Clouds).Holroyd, p. 467 He wrote in the preface to the published play that he had begun writing it before the First World war,Shaw, p. vii although his biographer Michael Holroyd dates the writing to 1916.
A burglar is captured. They say they do not want to prosecute him, but he insists he will turn himself in unless they pay him not to. It turns out that the burglar is one of Shotover's old crewmen. He confesses that he is not a real burglar. He deliberately gets himself captured to get charitable assistance from his victims. Shotover laments that the younger generation have lost their romance. Ellie suggests that she should marry Shotover, but he says he is already married to a black Jamaican wife, though it is possible she is now dead.
Ariadne says that everything will be put to rights if only they get some horses. Every English family should have horses. Mangan announces that the prime minister has asked him to join the Government "without even going through the nonsense of an election, as the dictator of a great public department". Ellie suddenly declares that she cannot marry him as she is now Shotover's "white wife". Shotover predicts that the ship of England will founder, as the captain is incapable and the crew are irresponsible:
A servant enters with news that an air-raid is about to happen. The lights are switched off, but Hector switches them back on to demonstrate his lack of concern about the threat. A bomb lands in the garden, blowing up Shotover's store of dynamite and killing Mangan and the burglar who were hiding there. When it is over everyone says how bored they are. They hope the bombs will come again tomorrow.
Sutherland calls Captain Shotover "a self-mocking portrait of Shaw himself", delivering "the key warning about the future of the ship of state".
In the preface to the play Shaw explains the subtitle, "A Fantasia in the Russian Manner", and acknowledges his debt to Chekhov, in particular to The Cherry Orchard. He writes that in comparison to another great Russian writer, Tolstoy, Chekhov was "more of a fatalist, had no faith in these charming people extricating themselves. They would, he thought, be sold up and sent adrift by the bailiffs; therefore he had no scruple in exploiting and even flattering their charm".Shaw, p. viii
Critics have taken different views about Chekhov's influence on Shaw's play. Louis Kronenberger says that Shaw "turns Chekhov into a sort of literary Hyde Park soapbox dialectic for the theatre with none of the variety in emotional rhythm that Chekhov's has, either in tone or in profound self-revelation among the characters."Kronenberger, p. 234 Louis Crompton, in contrast, says that some critics have exalted Chekhov's detachment into an end in itself and criticised Shaw as the perverter of the master.Crompton, p. 155 Thomas Whitaker writes that Shaw differs markedly from Chekhov by presenting his characters as mercurial "rhetorical puppets" which gives them a "surprisingly rich vitality ... a heartbroken adolescent can instantly become a cynic on the prowl, a maternal confidante can also be a seductive hostess and an emasculating wife, a philandering lapdog can be a shrewd judge of character and an offstage hero, and a mad hatter can be a mad Lear and a mad Shaw".Whitaker, pp. 90–91
In a 1943 revival at the Cambridge Theatre, London, starring Robert Donat as Shotover, Evans switched roles from her two previous productions to play Hesione; her old part as Ariadne was taken by Isabel Jeans."The Theatre", The Tatler, 7 April 1943, p. 8 A 1950 production at the Arts Theatre featured Walter Fitzgerald as Shotover, Catherine Lacey as Hesione, and Patricia Jessel as Ariadne."The Arts", The Stage 13 July 1950, p. 21
A 1961 revival, directed by Frank Hauser for the Oxford Playhouse, transferred to the West End at Wyndham's Theatre, starring Roger Livesey as Shotover, with Dulcie Gray as Ariadne, Michael Denison as Hector, Judy Campbell as Hesione, George Benson as Mangan."Heartbreak House", The Sphere, 11 November 1961, p. 29 A Chichester Festival production transferred to the Lyric Theatre, London in 1967, with John Clements as Shotover, Irene Worth as Hesione, Diana Churchill as Ariadne, Bill Fraser as Mangan and Michael Aldridge as Hector."Chichester success for West End", The Stage, 26 October 1967, p. 14
John Schlesinger's 1975 production for the National Theatre featured Colin Blakely as Shotover, Eileen Atkins as Hesione, Anna Massey as Ariadne, Graham Crowden as Hector.Trewin, J. C. "Theatre", Illustrated London News, 1 May 1975, p. 90 Rex Harrison starred as Shotover in a 1983 revival at the Haymarket Theatre in a production directed by John Dexter, with Diana Rigg as Hesione and Rosemary Harris as Ariadne."Contemporary tinge", The Stage, 17 March 1983, p. 11
At the Haymarket in 1992 a production directed by Trevor Nunn starred Paul Scofield as Shotover, with Vanessa Redgrave as Hesione, Felicity Kendal as Ariadne, and Daniel Massey as Hector."This is a Shaw thing", The Stage, 2 April 1992, p. 11 A revival at the Almeida Theatre, London in 1997, directed by David Hare, starred Richard Griffiths as Shotover, Patricia Hodge as Ariadne, Penelope Wilton as Hesione, Peter McEnery as Hector and Malcolm Sinclair as Mazzini Dunn."A softer centre to apocalypse now?", The Times, 5 September 1997, p. 30
As part of its 50th anniversary season the Chichester Festival staged a production starring Derek Jacobi as Shotover, Sara Stewart as Ariadne, Emma Fielding as Hesione and Ronald Pickup as Mazzini Dunn. "Derek Jacobi, Emma Fielding and Ronald Pickup Star in Heartbreak House", WestEnd Theatre. Retrieved 17 November 2024
The play has been performed several times at the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada, including a production in 1968 directed by Val Gielgud with Jessica Tandy, Paxton Whitehead, Tony Van Bridge and Frances Hyland (this production was recorded and released by Caedmon Records Caedmon); then in summer 2011 directed by Christopher Newton with Michael Ball as Captain Shotover, Blair Williams as Hector, Patrick McManus as Mazzini, Laurie Paton as Ariadne, Benedict Campbell as Mangan and Robin Evans Willis as Ellie.
Premieres
The play was first performed in New York by the Theatre Guild company at the Garrick Theatre in November 1920. It was well received and ran for 125 performances over five months. It was first presented in England on 18 October 1921, at the Court Theatre, London, running for 63 performances. Between the two English-language productions the play had been seen in Vienna in German translation.Holroyd, p. 491; Parker, p. xxvii and Wearing, p. 119
Broadway and West End casts
Ellie Dunn Elizabeth Risdon Ellen O'Malley Nurse Guinness Helen Westley Lilian Talbot Captain Shotover Albert Perry Brember Wills Lady Utterword (Ariadne) Lucile Watson Edith Evans Hesione Hushabye Effie Shannon Mary Grey Mazzini Dunn Erskine Sanford H. O. Nicholson Hector Hushabye Fred Eric James Dale Boss Mangan Dudley Digges Alfred Clark Randall Utterword Ralph Roeder Eric Maturin Burglar Henry Travers Charles Groves
Plot summary
Ellie Dunn, her father, and her fiancé are invited to one of Hesione Hushabye’s infamous dinner parties, to be held at the house of her father, the eccentric Captain Shotover, an inventor in his late eighties who is trying to create a "psychic ray" that will destroy dynamite. The house is built in the shape of the stern of a ship. Ariadne, Lady Utterword, Shotover's other daughter, arrives from Australia, but he pretends not to recognise her. Hesione says they are running out of money. Shotover needs to invent a weapon of mass destruction. His last invention, a lifeboat, did not bring in much cash. Ellie intends to marry a businessman, Boss Mangan, but she really loves a man she met in the National Gallery. Her fiancé is a ruthless scoundrel, her father is a bumbling prig, and it turns out that the man she is in love with is Hector, Hesione's husband, who spends his time telling romantic lies to women. Marriage to Mangan will be the sensible choice.
Reception
In his preface to the play, published in 1919, before the first production, Shaw wrote, "Heartbreak House is not merely the name of the play which follows this preface. It is cultured, leisured Europe before the war."Shaw, p. 3 The writer John Sutherland describes the play as:
Revivals
Britain
Sir Barry Jackson revived the play at the Sondheim Theatre, London in 1932. Two members of the original London cast – Evans and Groves – reprised their roles; Cedric Hardwicke played Shotover and Wilfrid Lawson was Mangan, O. B. Clarence was Mazzini Dunn, Leon Quartermaine was Hector, and Ballard Berkeley was Randall."London Theatres", The Stage, 28 April 1932, p. 12 A revival in March 1937 at the Westminster Theatre featured Cecil Trouncer as Shotover, Agnes Lauchlan as Ariadne, Richard Goolden as Mazzini Dunn, and Alan Napier as Hector. The author supervised the production."London Theatres", The Stage, 11 March 1937, p. 10
North America
Orson Welles played Shotover in a 1938 revival by the Mercury Theatre company. Also in the cast were Mady Christians (Hesione) Vincent Price (Hector) and George Coulouris (Mangan). "Heartbreak House", Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 17 November 2024 For a 1959 production at the Billy Rose Theatre, Maurice Evans played Shotover, with Pamela Brown as Ariadne, Diana Wynyard as Hesione, Dennis Price as Hector and Alan Webb as Mazzini Dunn. "Heartbreak House", Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 17 November 2024 After his West End appearance as Shotover, Rex Harrison reprised the role with a cast featuring Amy Irving, Rosemary Harris, Dana Ivey and Tom Aldredge. "Heartbreak House", Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 17 November 2024 A 2006 Broadway revival starred Philip Bosco as Shotover, with Laila Robins as Ariadne and Swoosie Kurtz as Hesione. "Heartbreak House", Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 17 November 2024
Adaptations
Radio
BBC Radio first broadcast the play in 1951, with Milton Rosmer as Shotover. "Heartbreak House", BBC Genome. Retrieved 17 November 2024 A second radio adaptation was broadcast in 1955 with Stephen Murray as Shotover. In 1968 the BBC broadcast a new adaptation, starring Ralph Richardson as Shotover, with Edith Evans reprising her original 1921 role of Ariadne and Elizabeth Sellars as Hesione. A 1998 BBC production starred John Wood as Shotover, Cheryl Campbell as Ariadne and Eleanor Bron as Hesione.
Television
The first BBC television broadcast of Heartbreak House was in 1958, with Mark Dignam as Shotover, Diana Churchill as Ariadne, Judy Campbell as Hesione and Tony Britton as Hector. A 1977 BBC adaptation starred John Gielgud as Shotover, Barbara Murray as Ariadne and Siân Phillips as Hesione.
Sources
External links
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