''Captain Brassbound's Conversion'' (1900) is a play by G. Bernard Shaw. It was published in Shaw's 1901 collection '' Three Plays for Puritans'' (together with '' Caesar and Cleopatra'' and '' The Devil's Disciple''). The first American production of the play starred

Ellen Terry Dame Alice Ellen Terry, (27 February 184721 July 1928), was a leading English actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born into a family of actors, Terry began performing as a child, acting in Shakespeare plays in London, and tour ...

in 1907. The play explores the relationship between the law, justice, revenge and forgiveness.

Characters

*Lady Cicely Waynflete *Sir Howard Hallam *Captain Brassbound *Rankin *Drinkwater *Redbrook *Johnson *Marzo *Sidi El Assif *The Cadi *Osman *Hassan *Captain Hamlin Kearney, U.S.N. *American Bluejacket

Plot

ACT I, Mogador,

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

. Sir Howard Hallam, a judge, and his sister-in-law, Lady Cicely Waynflete, a well-known explorer, are at the home of Rankin, a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

minister. Rankin knows Sir Howard as the brother of an old friend, Miles Hallam, who moved to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

after marrying a local woman. Sir Howard tells Rankin that his brother's property was illicitly seized after his death by his widow's family, but Sir Howard has now recovered it. Lady Cicely decides to explore Morocco with Sir Howard. They are advised to take an armed escort. This can be organised by Captain Brassbound, a smuggler who owns a ship called ''Thanksgiving''. When Brassbound arrives, he warns Sir Howard that in the mountain-country justice is ruled by codes of honour, not law courts. ACT II, A Moorish castle occupied by Brassbound. Marzo, an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

member of Brassbound's crew, has been wounded in a feud. Lady Cicely is tending to him, initially to Brassbound's irritation, but she wins him over. Sir Howard complains that Brassbound is behaving more like a jailer than a host; Brassbound says that Sir Howard is his prisoner. Brassbound explains that he is the son of Sir Howard's deceased brother, Miles. He blames Sir Howard for the death of his mother and for tricking him out of his inheritance by legal technicalities. He intends to hand over Sir Howard to a fanatical Islamist Sheik. He tells Sir Howard that he presides over an unfair justice system that punishes the poor and weak. Now that Sir Howard is powerless he will receive the justice of revenge. Lady Cicely intercedes and argues with Brassbound that his own code of honour is at least as brutal as the legal system he condemns. Brassbound wavers, and eventually agrees to give up revenge. When the Sheik arrives he offers to buy back Sir Howard, but the Shek will only accept one price – Lady Cicely. Cicely agrees, but at this point the local ruler appears, having learned of the transaction. He frees Sir Howard and arrests Brassbound. ACT III, Rankin's house. Commander Kearney is to preside over a court of inquiry into Brassbound's actions. Sir Howard says he cannot interfere, but Lady Cicely persuades him to let her tell the court all that happened on the trip. She uses all her powers of persuasion to convince Commander Kearney that Brassbound is innocent of any crime. Kearney agrees to release Brassbound. The liberated Brassbound declares his devotion to Lady Cicely, and says he wishes to marry her. Lady Cicely is powerfully drawn to Brassbound, and fears that she may succumb to his charisma. As she is about to agree, a gunshot is heard. It is the signal from Brassbound's crew that his ship is ready to depart. He leaves immediately, leaving Lady Cicely to say "What an escape!"

Preface and notes

Shaw explained that the topic of the play was the relationship between law and justice. He commented that "one of the evils of the pretence that our institutions represent abstract principles of justice, instead of being mere social scaffolding, is that persons of a certain temperament take the pretence seriously; and when the law is on the side of injustice, will not accept the situation, and are driven mad by their vain struggle against it".Violet M. Broad & C. Lewis Broad, ''Dictionary to the Plays and Novels of Bernard Shaw'', A. & C. Black, London, 1929, p.37. Shaw added that his information about Morocco came from

Cunninghame Graham Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham (24 May 1852 – 20 March 1936) was a Scottish politician, writer, journalist and adventurer. He was a Liberal Party Member of Parliament (MP); the first ever socialist member of the Parliament of the United Ki ...

's book, ''Mogreb-el-Acksa'' (Morocco the Most Holy), "without which Captain Brassbound's Conversion would never have been written". The story of the legal dispute over the estate was derived from information provided about a similar case given to him by a Frederick Jackson, of Hindhead.

In performance

The play was first performed at the Stage Society on 16 December 1900, at the Strand Theatre. A production in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

at the Queen's Theatre followed on 12 May 1902. The first

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

production was at the Royal Court, 20 March 1906 with

as Cicely Waynflete and

Frederick Kerr Frederick Kerr (born Frederick Grinham Keen, 11 October 1858 – 3 May 1933) was an English actor who appeared on stage in both London and New York and in British and American films; he also worked as a major theatrical manager in London. Early ...

as Brassbound. In February, 1971, a production opened at The Theatre Royal, Brighton. It transferred to The

Cambridge Theatre The Cambridge Theatre is a West End theatre, on a corner site in Earlham Street facing Seven Dials, in the London Borough of Camden, built in 1929–30 for Bertie Meyer on an "irregular triangular site". Design and construction It was des ...

, London, and ran till July. The cast was: Captain Brassbound: Joss Ackland. Drinkwater:

Kenneth Williams Kenneth Charles Williams (22 February 1926 – 15 April 1988) was an English actor of Welsh heritage. He was best known for his comedy roles and in later life as a raconteur and diarist. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the 31 '' ...

. Lady Cicely Wayneflete: Ingrid Bergman. *Crew:- Costumes: Beatrice Dawson. Director:

Frith Banbury Frederick Harold Frith Banbury MBE (4 May 1912 – 14 May 2008) was a British theatre actor and director. Banbury was born in Plymouth, Devon, on 4 May 1912, the son of Rear Admiral Frederick Arthur Frith Banbury and his wife Winifred (n ...

1953 TV Production

The play was adapted for British TV in 1953.1953 TV adaptation
at BFI

Cast

Margaret Lockwood Margaret Mary Day Lockwood, Order of the British Empire, CBE (15 September 1916 – 15 July 1990), was an English actress. One of Britain's most popular film stars of the 1930s and 1940s, her film appearances included ''The Lady Vanishes (1938 ...

as Lady Cicely Wayneflete *

John Gregson Harold Thomas Gregson (15 March 1919 – 8 January 1975), known professionally as John Gregson, was an English actor of stage, television and film, with 40 credited film roles. He was best known for his crime drama and comedy roles. He was cr ...

as Captain Brassbound *

John Laurie John Paton Laurie (25 March 1897 – 23 June 1980) was a Scottish actor. In the course of his career, Laurie performed on the stage and in films as well as television. He is perhaps best remembered for his role in the sitcom '' Dad's Army'' (19 ...

as Rankin * Leslie Dwyer as Drinkwater * John G. Heller as Hassan * David Horne as Sir Howard Hallam * Anthony Valentine as Page *

Noel Davis Noel Davis (born Edgar Davis; 1 March 1927 – 24 November 2002) was a British film and television actor; and latterly, a film and television casting director. Partial filmography * '' Darling'' (1965) - Shop Assistant (uncredited) * ''Fahren ...

as Redbrook *

Martin Wyldeck Martin Wyldeck (11 January 1914 – 29 April 1988) was an English actor who played a wide range of parts over many years on stage, screen and TV. He also appeared in the first episode of the TV series '' Fawlty Towers'', as Sir Richard Morri ...

as Johnson *

John Ruddock John Ruddock (20 May 1897 – 24 September 1981) was a Peruvian-born British film and television actor. John Ruddock was born on 20 May 1897 in Lima, Peru as John Reynolds Ruddock. He was the first of seven children of his British father and Ame ...

as Osman *

John Colicos John Colicos (December 10, 1928 – March 6, 2000) was a Canadian actor. He performed on stage and television in the United States and Canada. Career Colicos was born in Toronto, Ontario, to a Greek father and a Canadian mother. In 1957 he app ...

as Sidi el Assif *Edgar K. Bruce as Cadi * Basil Appleby as Bluejacket *

James Dyrenforth James Dyrenforth (31 January 1895 – 26 December 1973) was an American actor and songwriter. Dyrenforth appeared in '' A Night to Remember'' (1958), '' Fiend Without a Face'' (1958), and '' Lolita'' (1962), and co-wrote "A Garden in the Rain " ...

as Captain Kearney USN

References

{{George Bernard Shaw 1900 plays Plays by George Bernard Shaw