''Loyalties'' is a 1922 play by the British writer

John Galsworthy John Galsworthy (; 14 August 1867 – 31 January 1933) was an English novelist and playwright. He is best known for his trilogy of novels collectively called '' The Forsyte Saga'', and two later trilogies, ''A Modern Comedy'' and ''End of th ...

. It was first staged at

St Martins Theatre St Martin's Theatre is a West End theatre which has staged the production of ''The Mousetrap'' since March 1974, making it the longest continuous run of any show in the world. The theatre is located in West Street, near Shaftesbury Avenue, in ...

and ran for over a year. Galsworthy described it as "the only play of mine which I was able to say, when I finished it, no manager will refuse this". The original West End cast included Ernest Milton, Edmund Breon, Eric Maturin,

Malcolm Keen Malcolm Keen (8 August 1887 – 30 January 1970) (born Malcolm Knee; he later changed his surname to Keen) was an English actor of stage, film and television. He was sometimes credited as Malcolm Keane.Ian Hunter, Cathleen Nesbitt, Beatrix Thomson, and Meggie Albanesi.

Dramatis personae

Charles Winsor: Owner of Meldon Court, near Newmarket Lady Adela: His Wife Ferdinand de Levis: A young Jew Treisure: Winsor's butler General Canynge: A racing oracle Margaret Orme: A society girl Ronald Dancy: Army Captain Mabel: His wife Inspector Dede: Of the County Constabulary Robert: Winsor's footman A Constable: Attendant on Dede Augustus Borring: A clubman Lord St Erth: A Peer of the Realm A Footman: Of the Club Major Colford: A brother officer of Dancy Edward Graviter: A solicitor, junior partner of Twisden & Graviter's A Young Clerk: Of Twisden & Graviter's Gilman: A grocer Jacob Twisden: Senior partner of Twisden & Graviter's Ricardos: An Italian wine merchant

Plot

The play is an exposé of antisemitism in English upper-class society in the 1920s. It is set in Meldon Court, a country house near Newmarket, the home of Sir Charles and Lady Adela Winsor. One of their guests, Ferdinand de Levis, has had £1000 stolen from his room, and he charges another of the guests, Captain Ronald Dancy, with the theft. However, de Levis is Jewish and Dancy is a war hero. Despite evidence that Dancy may be guilty, de Levis is threatened with social ostracism by the members of the gentleman's club to which he belongs. He is suspended from the club and in turn resigns. When Mabel, Dancy's wife, pleads with de Levis, as a gentleman, to withdraw the charge, he replies "I'm not a gentleman - I'm a damned Jew!" echoing what Dancy has previously called him. Dancy, under pressure from the members of his club and from his wife, agrees to bring court proceedings against de Levis. The trial begins, but the case ends prematurely when the culprit is discovered. During the play several characters admit that they don't like Jews, while at the same time phrasing their opinions in ways that seek to avoid a charge of prejudice. Early on, Charles Winsor says "I like Jews. That’s not against him—rather the contrary these days. But he pushes himself." A friend of Mabel's, Margaret Orme, says, "I know lots of splendid Jews, ... but when it comes to the point—! They all stick together; why shouldn't we? It's in the blood." And when Lady Adela tells Margaret that she is proud of her Jewish great grandmother, Margaret says "Inoculated." A well-to-do grocer, Gilman, says, "I don’t like—well, not to put too fine a point upon it—’Ebrews. They work harder; they’re more sober; they’re honest; and they’re everywhere. I’ve nothing against them, but the fact is—they get on so." Gilman has come to give evidence in the case because he thinks that it will help Dancy against de Levis. Few of the characters come out well.

Adaptations

In 1933 the play was made into a film, '' Loyalties'', adapted by W P Lipscomb, directed by

Basil Dean Basil Herbert Dean CBE (27 September 1888 – 22 April 1978) was an English actor, writer, producer and director in the theatre and in cinema. He founded the Liverpool Playhouse, Liverpool Repertory Company in 1911 and in the First World War, a ...

and

Thorold Dickinson Thorold Barron Dickinson (16 November 1903 – 14 April 1984) was a British film director, screenwriter, film editor, film producer, and Britain's first university professor of film. Dickinson's work received much praise, with fellow direct ...

and starring

Basil Rathbone Philip St. John Basil Rathbone MC (13 June 1892 – 21 July 1967) was an Anglo-South African actor. He rose to prominence in the United Kingdom as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in more than 70 films, primarily costume drama ...

as Ferdinand de Levis,

Miles Mander Miles Mander (born Lionel Henry Mander; 14 May 1888 – 8 February 1946), was an English character actor, writer, director and producer in the post-war period of early British cinema during the 1920s to mid-1930s, as well as a playwright an ...

as Captain Ronald Dancy, Algernon West as Charles Winsor, Cecily Byrne as Lady Adela Winsor,

Alan Napier Alan William Napier-Clavering (7 January 1903 – 8 August 1988), better known as Alan Napier, was an English actor. After a decade in West End theatre, he had a long film career in Britain and later on in Hollywood. Napier is best remembered f ...

as General Canynge,

Heather Thatcher Heather Thatcher (3 September 1896 – 15 January 1987) was an English actress in theatre and films. Career Dance By 1922, Thatcher was a dancer. She was especially noted for her interpretation of an Egyptian harem dance. Her exotic clothes wer ...

as Margaret Orme, Joan Wyndham as Mabel Dancy, Athole Stewart as Lord St. Erth,

Philip Strange Philip Strange (4 June 1884 – 5 January 1963) was a British actor. Selected filmography * '' The Ace of Cads'' (1926) * '' Broadway Nights'' (1927) * ''Nevada'' (1927) * ''Wall Street'' (1929) * '' The Unholy Night'' (1929) * '' The Rescue'' ( ...

as Major Colford, Robert Mawdesley as Graviter, Lawrence Hanray as Jacob Twisden, Ben Field as Gilman, and Anthony Holles as Ricardos. The play was broadcast on BBC Radio's

Saturday Night Theatre __NOTOC__ ''Saturday Night Theatre'' was a long-running radio drama strand on the BBC Home Service and its successor, BBC Radio 4. Launched in April 1943 the strand showcased feature-length, middlebrow single plays on Saturday evenings for mor ...

in 1967, adapted for radio by Peggy Wells and produced by Betty Davis, with Keith Michell as Captain Ronald Dancy, John Justin as Ferdinand de Levis, Rolf Lefebvre as Charles Winsor, Diana Olsson as Lady Adela Winsor, Wilfred Babbage as Treisure, Robert Sansom as General Canynge, Margaret Ward as Margaret Orme, Hilda Schroder as Mabel Dancy, Stephen Thorne as Inspector Dede, Frederick Treves as Augustus Borring, Geoffrey Wincott as Lord St Erth, Alexander John as Major Colford, Frank Henderson as Graviter, Howieson Culff as Jacob Twisden, Ronald Herdman as Gilman,

Harold Kasket Harold Kasket (26 July 1926 – 20 January 2002) was an English actor in theatre, films and later television from the 1940s. Kasket usually played Arabs or mainland European types in many films and TV programmes such as '' Maigret'', '' The Sai ...

as Ricardos, and Gordon Gardner as Robert. In 1976,

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

broadcast a version as part of their ''

Play of the Month ''Play of the Month'' is a BBC television anthology series, which ran from 1965 to 1983 featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays (or adaptations) which were usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different wor ...

'' series, directed by

Rudolph Cartier Rudolph Cartier (born Rudolph Kacser, renamed himself in Germany to Rudolph Katscher; 17 April 1904 – 7 June 1994) was an Austrian television director, filmmaker, screenwriter and producer who worked predominantly in British television, excl ...

and produced by

Cedric Messina Cedric Messina (14 December 1920 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa — 30 April 1993 in London) was a South-African born British television producer and director who worked for the BBC and is best remembered for his involvement in television pro ...

. It starred Edward Fox as Captain Ronald Dancy, Charles Kay as Ferdinand de Levis, John Carson as Charles Winsor, Dinah Sheridan as Lady Adela Winsor, Erik Chitty as Treisure, Robert Flemyng as General Canynge, Polly Adams as Margaret Orme,

Catherine Schell Catherine Schell (born Katherina ''Freiherr, Freiin'' Schell von Bauschlott, 17 July 1944) is a Hungarian-born British actress who came to prominence in British film and television productions from the 1960s. Her notable roles include the Bond ...

as Mabel Dancy, Roger Hammond as Inspector Dede, Jeremy Clyde as Augustus Borring,

Peter Dyneley Peter Dyneley (13 April 1921 – 19 August 1977) was an English actor. Although he appeared in many smaller roles in both film and television, he is best remembered for supplying the voice of Jeff Tracy for the 1960s "Supermarionation" televis ...

as Lord St. Erth, Tom Criddle as Major Colford,

Geoffrey Palmer Geoffrey Palmer may refer to: Politicians *Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 1st Baronet (1598–1670), English lawyer and politician *Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 3rd Baronet (1655–1732), English politician, member of parliament (MP) for Leicestershire *Geoffrey Pal ...

as Graviter, David Markham as Jacob Twisden, Frank Middlemass as Gilman, and Steve Plytas as Ricardos. In a review of a revival of the play at the

Finborough Theatre The Finborough Theatre is a fifty-seat theatre in the West Brompton area of London (part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) under artistic director Neil McPherson. The theatre presents new British writing, as well as UK and world p ...

in London in 2006, ''

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unit ...

'' theatre critic Michael Billington wrote that "With consummate skill, Galsworthy shows how English caste and race loyalties diabolicially intersect" and that "Galsworthy's shockingly neglected plays are eminently revivable social documents". He reported that he saw the play with a packed house "who seemed, like me, to relish Galsworthy's portrait of the poisonous worm inside the woodwork of English society."

References

Bibliography

* Cody, Gabrielle H. & Sprinchorn, Evert. ''The Columbia Encyclopedia of Modern Drama''; vol. 1. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007. * Wearing, J. P. ''The London Stage 1920–1929: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel''.

Rowman & Littlefield Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group is an American independent academic publishing company founded in 1949. Under several imprints, the company offers scholarly books for the academic market, as well as trade books. The company also owns ...

, 2014.

External links

* 1922 plays British plays adapted into films Plays about race and ethnicity Plays by John Galsworthy West End plays {{1920s-play-stub