Journey’s End (1928)Infantry company Commander Stanhope

Officers OsborneHibbertTrotterRaleigh

The colonelSergeant-majorThe officer’s cook MasonOfficer (diff regiment) HardyYoung German Soldier2 privates

A dugout, 50 yards from enemy lines at St Quentin . Candlelit. ‘The earth walls deaden the sound of war’

Act I Monday Evening 18th March 1918Act II Scene 1 Tuesday Morning

Scene 2 Tuesday AfternoonAct III scene 1 Wednesday afternoon

Scene 2 Wednesday nightScene 3 Thursday, towards dawn

Sherriff – Infantry officer, wounded at Passchendaele.

Characters “simple, unquestioning men who fought the war because it seemed the only right and proper thing to do … [a play] in which not a word was spoken against the war … and no word of condemnation was uttered” (RCS). He felt its success was due to the absence of anti-war messages or sermonising. It was “a nostalgic journey into the past” (RCS)Aim was to show “how men really lived in the trenches, how they talked and how they behaved” (RCS) Critic “perhaps the greatest of all war plays”

Staging: sound and lighting throughout to create realistic and theatrically effective representation of war. Symbolic – red light for danger or death, the sounds of war are personified in SDsDugout setting – hardships (drying sock over candle flame) waiting, boredom, cramped conditions.Allowed for closeness and camaraderie. Sherriff’s intent was to show that duty, loyalty and bravery were undimmed - a testament to the nobility of the soldiers. Audience still reminded of wreckage to young lives and the futility of their deaths. Rockets and guns sound effects rise to ‘confused turmoil’ and ‘a shriek and a crash’ at start of raid, stage direction after raid personifies war noise ‘ the impatient grumble of gunfire’. During the attack the ‘’sharp crack of the rifle grenades, the thud of the shells and the boom of the Minenwerfer mingle together in a muffled roar.’As R dies ‘the faint rosy glow of dawn is deepening to angry red’

Stanhope – hardened cynicism SD ‘pallor under his skin and dark shadows under his eyes’ , ‘carefully brushed hair ‘ well-cut and cared for uniform’ anger at mess in dugout. a “freak” (Hardy) , hardened drinker. Hero-worshiped by Raleigh. [to R] ‘You mustn’t expect to find him - quite the same … it tells on a man – rather

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badly – it’s a big strain on a man… If you notice a - difference in Stanhope – you’ll know it’s only the strain’. ‘forced gaiety’ at first meal [on R’s sister]‘she doesn’t know that if I went up those steps and into the front line without being doped with whisky I’d go mad with fright’ ‘that awful affair on Vimy Ridge’ after which “I knew I’d go mad if I didn’t break the strain” [either pretend to be ill or drink] ‘I couldn’t bear being fully-conscious all the time’ ‘It’s a slimy thing to go home if you’re not really ill’Discussion with Osborne about worms – going the wrong way pointlessly – metaphor for their feelings of hopelessness and futility.Paranoid – Raleigh’s letter, obsessing, ranting, frenzied, insistent, ‘catch me wasting my time with sleep’. He’s convinced R will “tell her I reek of whiskey all day” to which Osborne says “..he’ll realise men are – different – out here”. Later he’s ashamed of himself when he realises he has underestimated R who sang his praises in the letter. S moves into shadows on stage‘there’s not a man left who was here when I came’‘[the attack]’ll come while we’re here. And we shall be in the front row of the stalls’‘we can’t expect any help from behind… We’ve got to stick it….We’ll wire ourselves in’

‘Do you ever get a sudden feeling that everything’s going further and further away - till you’re the only thing in the world – and then the world begins going away –until you’re the only thing in – in the universe – and you struggle to get back – and can’t?’ Osborne reassures him it’s just a bit of ‘nerve strain’ but Stanhope recognises he might be ‘going potty’

Stanhope and Hibbert – S threatens to shoot him but doesn’t. ‘You’re going to stay here and see it through like the rest of us.’Hibbert bursts into high-pitched [hysterical] laugh ‘…I swear I’ll never go into those awful trenches again’S ‘If you went – and left Osborne and Trotter and Raleigh and all those men up there to do your work – could you ever look a man straight in the face again – in all your life! … [they] just go on sticking it because they know it’s – it’s the only thing a decent man can do’S agrees not to say anything if H doesn’t let on ‘what blasted funk’ he himself is.

‘Didn’t you suggest we altered our plans and made a surprise raid further up the line after dark?‘they can’t have [the raid] later because of dinner I suppose’Colonel … ‘Well I can’t disobey orders’After raid Stanhope hand ‘trembles so violently he can scarcely take the cigar between his teeth’Having opened up to Hibbert S reveals his true feelings to Raleigh who missed the evening’s – chicken/treat – meal and is furious R ate with the men. His words come brokenly ‘… You bloody little swine! You think I don’t care- You think you’re the only soul that cares’ explaining he ate the meal and drank champagne ‘ To forget, you little fool, to forget … You think there’s no limit to what a man can bear?’ and then shouts at him ‘For God’s sake, get out’When R injured in attack ‘You’ve got a Blighty one, Jimmy’

Osborne - ‘Uncle’ , ‘fussy’, approachable. [on new officer] “I hope we’re lucky and get a youngster straight from school”Osborne “Where do the men sleep”Hardy “I don’t know. The sergeant major sees to that” [about Stanhope who came straight from school and has had no home leave in 3 years] “And because he’s stuck it till his nerves are battered to bits he’s called a drunkard” “… You mustn’t

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expect to find him – quite the same…” “…he’s been out here a long time. It – it tells on a man – rather badly – “

To R ‘Think of it all as romantic, it helps’ Life away from war ‘a long way from here’. ‘I wish we knew more of what’s going on’. Winds up watch at end of act I. ‘When people are going potty they never talk about it, they keep it to themselves’“I’m sick of waiting”Reads Alice - ironic choice in a world gone mad.“We must put up a good show”Hands over his personal belongings before the raid to S – signal to audience that he probably won’t be coming back, S ‘you’re coming back, old man!’ rings hollow

Hardy flippant, cheerful, untidy and disorganised. (song) “Tick! – Tock! – Wind up the clock, and we’ll start the day over again” “Sometimes nothing happens for hours on end”“Don’t have too much water, it’s rather strong today”“ A dug-out got blown up and came down in the men’s tea. Damned annoying” /Osborne “there’s nothing worse than dirt in your tea”[about Stanhope] “…drank a whole bottle in one hour fourteen minutes – we timed him” /Osborne “It rather reminds you of bear-baiting – or cock-fighting – to sit and watch a boy drink himself unconscious”[reading from log book] “German airman flew over trenches. Shot a rat” / Osborne “Did he?” / H “No I shot the rat, you ass”

Raleigh ‘boyish voice’ (contrasted with ‘gruff’ voice), stage directions –‘ laughs nervously’,’ self-consciously’ – young and inexperienced. Youthful enthusiasm, idealistic expectations“I only left school at the end of last summer term”[on being on the front line] R “ It seems so frightfully quiet and uncanny … so near the German front line – only about 70 yards, isn’t it?” / O “Yes. About the breadth of a Rugger field.”

‘the Germans are really quite decent, aren’t they? I mean, outside the newspapers?’ Osborne answers with story of German officer telling them to ‘carry him’ of a wounded soldier in no-man’s-land and setting off very lights so they could see what they were doing. O ”Next day we blew each other’s trenches to blazes”/ R “It all seems rather – silly, doesn’t it?” /O “It does rather.”

Stanhope bullies him about the letter until he is left staring ‘wide-eyed at Stanhope who is trembling and breathing heavily’[in the letter to his sister] “he works so frightfully hard … a sergeant told me that Dennis is the finest officer in the battalion…I’m awfully proud to think he’s my friend”[on forthcoming action] “I say – it’s most frightfully exciting!Ironically keeps inviting Osborne to visit him just before raidTrotter “…You don’t want a walking stick. It gets in your way if you have to run fast”R “ Why – er – do you have to run fast?”After -fatal – injury in attack; carried by a sergeant major ‘like a child in his huge arms’ emphasising his youth. R represents all the young officers killed in the war.

Hibbert – ‘neuralgia’. Stanhope calls him ‘a worm’ and says “He’s decided to go home and spend the rest of the war in comfortable nerve hospitals”Stanhope on neuralgia “Try to forget about it … get tight”S “stay here, old chap – and see it through” “we all feel like you do sometimes” “Shall we see if we can stick it together?”

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Terrified before attack. Drinks water. Delays. S ‘the longer you stay here the harder it’ll be to go up’

Trotter – working class and cheerful. 144 circles to fill in ‘to make time go all right’. Shooting rats. Coping. Lack of imagination (according to Osborne) – keeps him saneO “It’s a wonderful morning” T ‘…makes you feel sort of young and hopeful… damned if a bloomin’ little bird didn’t start singing’, sounding funny to Trotter – war so removed from the real world but a reminder of what they’re fighting for ‘made me think of my garden of an evening’Osborne …I wish we knew more of what’s going on.Trotter “ So do I. Still, my wife reads the papers every morning and writes and tells me the news”R “I like Trotter”O “He’s a good chap”R “He makes things feel – natural”Stanhope (on Trotter) ‘He’s no imagination…must be rather nice…I suppose all his life Trotter feels like you and I do when we’re drowsily drunk.’‘Joking apart. It’s damn ridiculous making a raid when the Boche are expecting it’‘Always the same am I? Little you know.’Sings ‘ there’s a long, long trail a-winding’ immediately before attack

Mason “Will you have a nice cup of tea sir?S “Can you guarantee it’s nice?M “Well sir, it’s a bit oniony, but that’s only because of the saucepan.S In other words, it’s onion soup with tea-leaves in it?M “Not till dinner time, sir.”

‘a packet of sambridges for each man’S ‘ No pate de fois grasM ‘ No sir. The milkman ‘asn’t been yet’

Sergeant Major ‘but what ‘appens when the Boche ‘as all got round the back of us?’Stanhope [clearly following orders] ‘then we advance and win the war’ S-M pretending to make a note “Win the war. Very good, sir.”/ S ‘if you’re told to stick where you are you don’t make plans to retire.’

Colonel complacent ‘the men expect officer’s to lead a raid … I’m thinking of that youngster I sent up last night … just the type, plenty of guts.’ S ‘’he’s awfully new to it all’ C ‘All to the good. His nerves are sound’C ‘It’s a damned nuisance [the raid] but, after all – it’s necessary’S ‘I suppose it is.C”I want one officer to direct the raid and one to make the dash in and collar some Boche.”

Stanhope had asked the colonel to ask the brigadier to reconsider the raidC “He said the present arrangements have got to stand …my report’s got to be at headquarters by seven this evening…”[for a conference] S “they can’t have it later because of dinner, I suppose.”Weak encouragement for raid SD lingering, then ‘an awkward pause’His encouraging words that this ‘may mean the winning of the whole war’ negated by reminder to empty their pockets (in case they are taken prisoner)

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After the raidVery little learnt from German although colonel says ‘Splendid, Stanhope! We’ve got all we wanted’ [goes to phone Brigadier] ‘He’ll be very pleased about it. It’s a feather in our cap, Stanhope’ Stanhope gives one look of astonishment at the colonel … speaks in a dead voice ‘How awfully nice - if the Brigadier’s pleased’Colonel ‘ Oh – er – what about the raiding party – are they all safely back?’S ‘ Did you expect them to be all safely back, sir? … Four men and Raleigh came safely back , sir… still it’ll be awfully nice if the Brigadier’s pleased.’

Comic relief + domesticities +routineFood/drink as light relief O “what kind of soup is this Mason?

M “It’s yellow soup, sir”T “…war’s bad enough with pepper – but war without pepper – it’s – it’s bloody awful!”Onion teaTinned fruit – Apricots not pineapple’ My goodness, that must have given you a turn’ Osborne to Mason in mock-shock Earwig races to pass the time

Tension building – constant references to quiet a warning that something is about to happen. Act II ends with lasting images of war –

Osborne writing [last] letter to wife Stanhope taking a terrified Hibbert on duty Raleigh returning from duty – excited and hungry for glory

Stanhope’s whiskey runs out just before attack. He sits with ‘quavering hand’All men – worthy characters, needless loss of life

Inadequate facilities for dealing with injured and dead.

ThemesWar / Heroism / Comradeship/ Public School and Class (life at the front an extension of school life)

Structure – three days, claustrophobic setting, overwhelming feeling of doom. Disorganised nature of events reflects the chaos of war. Has been said not to follow the structure of a well-made play, because events do not fit neatly together nor do they lead on to the next. Play has complications, moments of drama and exploration of relationships between characters. Shows an understanding of psychology.Calm – tension / joy - sadness / light relief - drama anger – peace. “Everything depended on the sounds of war outside” RCS

Language and Style -Realism“a play came easily because you just had to use the words that people spoke in everyday life” RCSLanguage 0f 1920’s public schoolboys/ cockney (Mason). All language very controlled – stiff upper lip – understatement 1/shows how normal war has become and 2/is a device to hide painful emotion. Silences and pauses deepen tensionExplicit/explicit references to the situation.

Sherriff “Let the war speak” – not written as a polemic against war.

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