Peace In Our Time (play)
Encyclopedia
Peace In Our Time is a two-act play written in 1946 by Noel Coward
. It has 8 scenes and a cast of 22 speaking roles. The play focuses on a small group of Londoners in a pub close to Sloane Square
, in an alternate past where Germany won the Battle of Britain
and successfully invaded
and occupied Britain.
The drama received its first performance at the Lyric Theatre
in London in 1947. The production was directed by Alan Webb
under Coward's supervision and starred Helen Horsey, Kenneth More
, Bernard Lee
, Elspeth March
and Maureen Pryor
.
, writing "The idea of Peace in Our Time was conceived in Paris shortly after the Liberation..... I began to suspect that the physical effect of four years intermittent bombing is far less damaging to the intrinsic character of a nation than the spiritual effect of four years enemy occupation."
The play takes its title from the common misquotation of Neville Chamberlain
's phrase "Peace for our time" after arriving back from the Munich conference of 1938. Because of its large cast, it is rarely performed.
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
. It has 8 scenes and a cast of 22 speaking roles. The play focuses on a small group of Londoners in a pub close to Sloane Square
Sloane Square
Sloane Square is a small hard-landscaped square on the boundaries of the fashionable London districts of Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Chelsea, located southwest of Charing Cross, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The square is part of the Hans Town area designed in 1771 by Henry...
, in an alternate past where Germany won the Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
and successfully invaded
Operation Sealion
Operation Sea Lion was Germany's plan to invade the United Kingdom during the Second World War, beginning in 1940. To have had any chance of success, however, the operation would have required air and naval supremacy over the English Channel...
and occupied Britain.
The drama received its first performance at the Lyric Theatre
Lyric Theatre (London)
The Lyric Theatre is a West End theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster.Designed by architect C. J. Phipps, it was built by producer Henry Leslie with profits from the Alfred Cellier and B. C. Stephenson hit, Dorothy, which he transferred from the Prince of Wales Theatre to open...
in London in 1947. The production was directed by Alan Webb
Alan Webb (actor)
-Biography and Career:Educated at Bramcote School, Scarborough, and RN Colleges Osborne and Dartmouth. He served in the Royal Navy.Webb's early days were spent performing with the Lena Ashwell Players , J. B. Fagan's Oxford Players , The Croydon Repertory Company , and the Old Vic-Sadler's Wells...
under Coward's supervision and starred Helen Horsey, Kenneth More
Kenneth More
Kenneth Gilbert More CBE was a highly successful English film actor during the post-World War II era and starred in many feature films, often in the role of an archetypal carefree and happy-go-lucky middle-class gentleman.-Early life:Kenneth More was born in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, the...
, Bernard Lee
Bernard Lee
John Bernard Lee was an English actor, best known for his role as M in the first eleven James Bond films.-Life and career:...
, Elspeth March
Elspeth March
-Early years:She was born as Jean Elspeth Mackenzie in Kensington, London, England, the daughter of Harry Malcolm and Elfreda Mackenzie.-Career & marriage:...
and Maureen Pryor
Maureen Pryor
Maureen Pryor was an Irish-born English character actress. She appeared on stage, screen and television.-Early life:Maureen Pryor was born Maureen Pook in 1922 in Limerick, Ireland, to a Cockney father and an Irish mother...
.
Background
Coward was inspired to write the play by seeing the effects of the occupation of France in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, writing "The idea of Peace in Our Time was conceived in Paris shortly after the Liberation..... I began to suspect that the physical effect of four years intermittent bombing is far less damaging to the intrinsic character of a nation than the spiritual effect of four years enemy occupation."
The play takes its title from the common misquotation of Neville Chamberlain
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain FRS was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the...
's phrase "Peace for our time" after arriving back from the Munich conference of 1938. Because of its large cast, it is rarely performed.
Cast
- Alma Boughton
- Fred Shattock
- Janet Braid
- Doris Shattock
- Mr. Grainger
- Mrs. Grainger
- Nora Shattock
- Lyia Vivian
- George Bourne
- Ben Capper
- Archie Jenkins
- Mr Williams
- Chorley Bannister
- Bobby Plaxton
- German Officer
- Albrecht Richter
- Phyllis Mere
- Maudie
- Mrs. Massiter
- Gladys Mott
- Alfie Blake
- Mr. Lawrence
- German Officer
- Herr Huberman
- Kurt Forster
- Frau Huberman
- Billy Grainger
- Doctor Venning
- Lily Blake
- Stevie