Difference between revisions of "The Old Lady Shows Her Medals"

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''The Old Lady Shows Her Medals'', by Scottish playwright James M. Barrie.  
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''The Old Lady Shows Her Medals'', by Scottish playwright James M. Barrie. The play concerns four charwomen gathered for tea in the grungy basement apartment of Mrs. Dowey. The chief topic of conversation among the ladies is their sons, all off fighting in the war. Mrs. Dowey makes a point of showing off the letters her son has written to her. It turns out, however, that she picked a name from a newspaper article and invented him as her son. The story unfolds as this person turns up and a mother-son relationship develops between them before he returns to the war.
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concerns four charwomen gathered for tea in the grungy basement apartment of Mrs. Dowey (a spectacularly wonderful Penny Safranek). The chief topic of conversation among the ladies (Roses Prichard, Sara Zinsser, and Jennifer Lonsway, in addition to Ms. Safranek) is their sons, all off fighting in the war. Mrs. Dowey makes a point of showing off the letters her son has written to her and boasts that he addresses her as “Dear BEST Mother.”
 
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In the next scene, five days later, the four women, gathered again for tea, are interrupted by the local minister, Mr. Willings (William Lithgow), who announces that he has stumbled upon Mrs. Dowey’s son Kenneth and has brought him home to his mother. Mrs. Dowey, absurdly flustered, manages to shoo everyone out, mops and buckets and all, before her son Kenneth (a marvelously macho Joe McGovern) enters.
 
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As we have guessed by this time, the young man is not her son. The old spinster, who admits “I never had any man at all in my life,” had picked his name from a newspaper article and invented him as her son because she felt “left out” of all the talk and activities of the war. Kenneth, who had come along to chastise her for her deception, winds up staying for tea. And a hot bath. And a comfortable bed. And, eventually, he agrees to let her be his counterfeit Mum, “but only on probation.”
 
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She, in turn, flutters and flirts, and delights in pampering him, and it is here that actress Safranek is at her best---coy and shy and utterly delicious.
 
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At one point she asks about his war experiences. He admits that he has killed two Germans, but is more proud of the fact that he had captured six prisoners.
 
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“How could one man take six prisoners?” she asks in amazement.
 
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“In the usual way,” he responds. “I surrounded them.”
 
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After spending his entire furlough with her, Kenneth, who is an orphan, admits to “havng son-ish feelings” for her and proposes, down on one knee, that she become his mother. “And if you reject me, I swear I’ll never ask another,” he declares vehemently.
 
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And then he returns to the war.
 
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Performed in South Africa in 1929, starring [[Marjorie Evans]], [[Constance Smedley]], [[Ethel M. Ainge]], [[Jean McLaren]], [[Fred Goodman]], [[Maurice Horwitz]].
 
Performed in South Africa in 1929, starring [[Marjorie Evans]], [[Constance Smedley]], [[Ethel M. Ainge]], [[Jean McLaren]], [[Fred Goodman]], [[Maurice Horwitz]].

Revision as of 11:08, 24 October 2013

The Old Lady Shows Her Medals, by Scottish playwright James M. Barrie. The play concerns four charwomen gathered for tea in the grungy basement apartment of Mrs. Dowey. The chief topic of conversation among the ladies is their sons, all off fighting in the war. Mrs. Dowey makes a point of showing off the letters her son has written to her. It turns out, however, that she picked a name from a newspaper article and invented him as her son. The story unfolds as this person turns up and a mother-son relationship develops between them before he returns to the war.

Performed in South Africa in 1929, starring Marjorie Evans, Constance Smedley, Ethel M. Ainge, Jean McLaren, Fred Goodman, Maurice Horwitz.

Sources

Footlights, 1(4):10, 1929.

http://www.examiner.com/review/two-plays-by-j-m-barrie-and-neither-one-is-peter-pan


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