My Boy Jack is a 1997 play by English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 actor David Haig

David Haig

David Haig is an Olivier Award-winning English actor and FIPA Award-winning writer. He is known for his versatility, having played dramatic, serio-comic and comedic roles, playing characters of varied social classes...

. It tells the story of Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling

Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...

 and his grief for his son, John, who died in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

.

The title comes from Kipling's 1915 poem, My Boy Jack

My Boy Jack (poem)

My Boy Jack is a 1915 poem by Rudyard Kipling. Kipling wrote it after his beloved son John an 18 year old Lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion, Irish Guards went missing in September 1915 during the Battle of Loos, during World War I...

.

History

My Boy Jack played at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham

Theatre Royal, Nottingham

The Theatre Royal, Nottingham in Nottingham, England, is part of the city's Royal Centre, which also incorporates the Nottingham Royal Concert Hall. The theatre is in the heart of Nottingham City Centre and is owned by Nottingham City Council...

, in 2004. It then toured Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

, Richmond

Richmond, North Yorkshire

Richmond is a market town and civil parish on the River Swale in North Yorkshire, England and is the administrative centre of the district of Richmondshire. It is situated on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and serves as the Park's main tourist centre...

, Brighton

Brighton

Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...

, Norwich

Norwich

Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...

, Cardiff

Cardiff

Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...

 and Cambridge

Cambridge

The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...

, with the newly-formed Haig Lang Productions. In America, My Boy Jack has been performed under the title My Son Jack.

A television drama based on Haig's play was filmed in August 2007, with Haig as Kipling and Daniel Radcliffe

Daniel Radcliffe

Daniel Jacob Radcliffe is an English actor who rose to prominence playing the titular character in the Harry Potter film series....

 as Jack Kipling. It was distributed by Granada

Granada Television

Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....

 and Ecosse Films

Ecosse Films

Ecosse Films is a British film and television production company based in London. Ecosse Films is a multi award-winning company, specialising in high-quality drama for film and television, producing 11 films and over 300 hours of network television for BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Showtime, Starz Channel...

. It was broadcast on ITV1

ITV1

ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...

 and TV3

TV3 Ireland

TV3 is a free-to-air commercial television network in the Republic of Ireland. Launched on 20 September 1998 it was Ireland's first commercial broadcaster. The channel is owned by TV3 Group a subsidiary of Doughty Hanson & Co.-The TV3 Group:...

 (Ireland) at 9pm on Sunday 11 November 2007, Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth countries since the end of World War I to remember the members of their armed forces who have died in the line of duty. This day, or alternative dates, are also recognized as special days for war remembrances in many non-Commonwealth...

.

Recent research

John Kipling's body was never found, despite Rudyard's desperate searching. In 1992 the Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves, and places of commemoration, of Commonwealth of Nations military service members who died in the two World Wars...

 claimed to have identified his body. However, Tonie and Valmai Holt (authors of the successful Major and Mrs Holt's Battlefield Guides) doubted the "identification" and researched John's life and death in detail, writing the first biography of John, entitled My Boy Jack? In November 2007 the Imperial War Museum

Imperial War Museum

Imperial War Museum is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. The museum was founded during the First World War in 1917 and intended as a record of the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire...

 mounted an exhibition covering John's life and included a section on the Holts' doubts and the naming of another candidate for the "identified" body. The ITV drama does not claim to be a documentary account, but a representation of the experience of so many families in losing a son during the Great War.

Dramatis Personae

• Rudyard Kipling
  Rudyard Kipling
  Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
  
  , a writer
  • John "Jack" Kipling, his son
  • Caroline "Carrie" Kipling, his wife
  • Elsie "Bird" Kipling, his daughter
• Guardsman McHugh
• Guardsman Bowe
• Guardsman Doyle
• Mr. Frankland
• Major Sparks
• Col. Rory Pottle
• George Bambridge
  George Bambridge
  George Bambridge was a British diplomat. His wife Elsie Kipling was the daughter of author Rudyard Kipling.-Early life and education:...
  
  

Act One

My Boy Jack begins comically, with 17-year-old Jack Kipling trying on a pair of pince-nez

Pince-nez

Pince-nez are a style of spectacles, popular in the 19th century, which are supported without earpieces, by pinching the bridge of the nose. The name comes from French pincer, to pinch, and nez, nose....

. He is unable to see well without correction, but his father, Rudyard Kipling, wants him to wear the pince-nez to take his vision exam; it will make Jack's vision troubles look less serious. Jack fails the test, however; he cannot read the eye chart, without the pince-nez, from farther away than about a metre.

Jack, at home again, talks with Elsie, his sister. He explains that he wants to leave in order to get away from "this house and everything", and Elsie becomes angry with Jack — not because he wants to leave her, but because he could be killed at war. Kipling comes into the room, and Elsie hides behind a chair. Kipling then tells Jack that he will get Jack into the army, somehow. After Kipling leaves, Elsie emerges, furious.

The act ends with Jack leading his men into battle. In the theatre, there is then an interval

Intermission

An intermission or interval is a recess between parts of a performance or production, such as for a theatrical play, opera, concert, or film screening....

.

Act Two

This part of My Boy Jack deals with the Kipling family receiving the news of Jack being declared Missing In Action. During an argument with Carrie, Kipling reveals his guilt and responsibility helping Jack enlist in the army. Elsie reveals that Jack went to war, not out of patriotism, but to get away from his family, particularly to escape the shadow of Kipling's fame.

There is then a flashback to a time when Jack was only seven, showing Jack and Elsie with their father.

Act Three

It is now 1924, and Elsie is marrying George Bambridge. Her parents, though still missing Jack, are beginning to move on; they are happy for Elsie. Kipling has been interviewing soldiers from Jack's regiment of Irish Guards

Irish Guards

The Irish Guards , part of the Guards Division, is a Foot Guards regiment of the British Army.Along with the Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish regiments remaining in the British Army. The Irish Guards recruit in Northern Ireland and the Irish neighbourhoods of major British cities...

. One of them who served under Jack recalls his last moments. Jack had been leading a charge against the German trenches, continuing the attack while the other soldiers dropped off in fear. Jack was killed by machine gun fire just as he reached enemy lines. Kipling received some bittersweet solace in knowing that his son died heroically.

The play then jumps forward nine years, to 1933. It has been twenty years since My Boy Jack first began, in 1913. There are rumours of war, again, and Kipling wonders why the Great War was even fought. What was the point of his son's death, if there will just be another war?

My Boy Jack ends with Kipling reciting his poem, My Boy Jack

My Boy Jack (poem)

My Boy Jack is a 1915 poem by Rudyard Kipling. Kipling wrote it after his beloved son John an 18 year old Lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion, Irish Guards went missing in September 1915 during the Battle of Loos, during World War I...

.

Cast

The Casts of My Boy Jack

Character	British Touring Cast	Television Cast
Rudyard Kipling Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...	David Haig David Haig David Haig is an Olivier Award-winning English actor and FIPA Award-winning writer. He is known for his versatility, having played dramatic, serio-comic and comedic roles, playing characters of varied social classes...	David Haig David Haig David Haig is an Olivier Award-winning English actor and FIPA Award-winning writer. He is known for his versatility, having played dramatic, serio-comic and comedic roles, playing characters of varied social classes...
Caroline "Carrie" Kipling	Belinda Lang Belinda Lang Belinda Lang is an English actress, best known in the United Kingdom for her role as Bill Porter in the long running BBC sitcom 2point4 children .-Television:...	Kim Cattrall Kim Cattrall Kim Victoria Cattrall is an English actress. She is known for her role as Samantha Jones in the HBO comedy/romance series Sex and the City, and for her leading roles in the 1980s films Police Academy, Big Trouble in Little China, Mannequin, and Porky's...
Elsie "Bird" Kipling	Rosanna Lavelle Rosanna Lavelle Sally Rosanna Lavelle better known simply as Rosanna Lavelle, is an English actress. She attended the National Student Theatre in 1997 and then studied at Cambridge University....	Carey Mulligan Carey Mulligan Carey Hannah Mulligan is an English actress. She made her film debut as Kitty Bennet in Pride & Prejudice . She had roles in numerous British programmes and, in 2007, made her Broadway debut in The Seagull to critical acclaim....
John "Jack" Kipling	Ben Silverstone Ben Silverstone Benjamin Maurice Silverstone is an English barrister and former actor. He has one sister and one brother. He studied English at Cambridge University and law at the LSE.-Career:...	Daniel Radcliffe Daniel Radcliffe Daniel Jacob Radcliffe is an English actor who rose to prominence playing the titular character in the Harry Potter film series....
Guardsman Bowe	Simon Wolfe	Martin McCann Martin McCann (actor) -Biography:McCann born to Anne McCann, he grew up with a brother and sister in the working-class Divis Flats area of Falls Road in Belfast.He credits his mother with helping him with his success...
Major Sparks	Chris Moran	Peter Hanly Peter Hanly Peter Hanly is an Irish actor best known for his performances in Braveheart and as Edward, Prince of Wales, and as Garda Ambrose Egan in the BBC TV series Ballykissangel....
Mr Frankland	Fred Ridgeway
Young Jack	Changed depending on area	N/A
Young Elsie	Changed depending on area	N/A
Peter Carter		Bill Milner Bill Milner William Henry "Bill" Milner is an English child actor, best known for his roles as Will Proudfoot in Son of Rambow, Edward in Is Anybody There? and the young Magneto in X-Men: First Class.-Life and career:...
Mrs Carter		Lucy Millar
Guardsman McHugh		Rúaidhrí Conroy Ruaidhri Conroy Rúaidhrí Conroy is an Irish actor.Conroy was born in Dublin, Ireland, the son of actor Brendan Conroy. One of his first castings was as 'Tito' in the film Into the West, for which he won a Young Artist Award in the Outstanding Youth Actors in a Family Foreign Film category.In 1998, Conroy received...
Guardsman Doyle		Laurence Kinlan
Postboy		Rory Rae
Colonel Ferguson		Nick Dunning Nick Dunning Nick Dunning is an Anglo-Irish actor born in the county of Wexford in 1959.Dunning is a well known theatre actor who attended RADA where he won the Ronson Prize for Most Promising Young Actor. He has appeared on stage in the West End in London and at the Gate Theatre in Dublin. He has won two...
Leo Amery MP		Michael McElhatton Michael McElhatton Michael McElhatton is an Irish actor and writer.-Selected filmography:* A Tiger's Tail* Spin the Bottle* Intermission* The Actors* Blow Dry* Saltwater* Crushproof* I Went Down* Perrier's Bounty-Selected Stage Career:...
H.A Gwynne		Peter Gowen
Field Marshal 'Bobs' Roberts		Brian de Salvo ...
Naval Doctor		Simon Coury
Commander Egan		Michael Grennell
Corporal O'Leary		Richard Dormer
McHugh		Rúaidhrí Conroy Ruaidhri Conroy Rúaidhrí Conroy is an Irish actor.Conroy was born in Dublin, Ireland, the son of actor Brendan Conroy. One of his first castings was as 'Tito' in the film Into the West, for which he won a Young Artist Award in the Outstanding Youth Actors in a Family Foreign Film category.In 1998, Conroy received...
Daly		Ciaran Nolan
Mr. Relph		Sean O'Neil
Colonel Brooks		Bosco Hogan
Captain Bruce		Adam Goodwin
Ralph		John-Paul MacLeod
Captain Viney		Peter O'Meara
Maitland		Billy Gibson
Nurse		Hannah McCabe
Hobdon		Fred Ridgeway
Dying Soldier		Mark Huberman
Colonel Hayden		David Heap
Mr Lieuenthal		Chris McHallem
Journalist		Jason Maza Jason Maza - Early life :Born and brought up in London, he played semi-professional football before turning to an acting career. At 18 Maza gained a place at Central School of Speech and Drama; however, he turned down his place in order to continue working as an actor....
Photographer		James Holmes James Holmes (actor) James Holmes is a West Midlands-born comedy actor, best known for playing the character of Clive in the 2009 BBC sitcom Miranda. He has appeared in various off-West End and regional theatre productions, including playing Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest for the New Players Theatre...
Col. Rory Pottle
George Bambridge
King George V George V of the United Kingdom George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....	N/A	Julian Wadham Julian Wadham -Career:He has appeared on television as both Charles II and George V...

External links

• My Boy Jack at the IMDb
• My Boy Jack review at BBC
  BBC
  The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
  
  
• "Find a Grave"