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'{{short description|Play by George Bernard Shaw}} {{about|the play by George Bernard Shaw|other uses|Arms and the Man (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}} {{Infobox play | name = Arms and the Man | image =G Bernard Shaw.jpg | image_size = | image_alt = | caption =Shaw at the time of the production of ''Arms and the Man'' | writer = [[George Bernard Shaw]] | chorus = | characters = Raina Petkoff <br /> Sergius Saranoff <br /> Captain Bluntschli <br /> Catherine Petkoff <br /> Major Paul Petkoff <br /> Louka <br /> Nicola<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.enotes.com/topics/arms-man/characters | title=E-NOTES | access-date=20 November 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/a/arms-and-the-man/character-list | title=Cliff Notes | access-date=20 November 2013}}</ref> | mute = | setting = | premiere = {{Start date|df=yes|1894|04|21}} | place = [[Avenue Theatre]] | orig_lang = | series = | subject = Love and war<ref>{{cite book|author=Bernard Shaw|title=Arms and the Man|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9qbC6BFBdUcC|year=1990|publisher=Dover Publications|isbn=978-0-486-26476-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/35534/Arms-and-the-Man | title=Encyclopædia Britannica | access-date=20 November 2013}}</ref> | genre = | web = }} '''''Arms and the Man''''' is a [[comedy]] by [[George Bernard Shaw]], whose title comes from the opening words of [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]'', in Latin: ''Arma virumque cano'' ("Of arms and the man I sing").<ref>{{cite book |last=Shaw |first=Bernard |author-link= George Bernard Shaw |title=Plays: Pleasant and Unpleasant |volume= The Second Volume, Containing the Four Pleasant Plays |chapter= Arms and the Man |place=London |publisher=Grant Richards |year= 1898 |chapter-url= https://archive.org/stream/playspleasantunp02shawrich#page/n23 |pages= 1–76|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> The play was first produced on 21 April 1894 at the [[Avenue Theatre]] and published in 1898 as part of Shaw's ''[[Plays Pleasant]]'' volume, which also included ''[[Candida (play)|Candida]]'', ''[[You Never Can Tell (play)|You Never Can Tell]],'' and ''[[The Man of Destiny]].'' ''Arms and the Man'' was one of Shaw's first commercial successes. He was called on to stage after the curtain, where he received enthusiastic applause. Amidst the cheers, one audience member booed. Shaw riposted, "My dear fellow, I quite agree with you, but what are we two against so many?"<ref>Frezza, Daniel. [http://www.bard.org/education/resources/other/candidaplaywright.html "About the Playwright: George Bernard Shaw"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080219070635/http://www.bard.org/education/resources/other/candidaplaywright.html |date=19 February 2008 }}, "Utah Shakespearean Festival," 2007. Accessed 12 February 2008. Shaw's contemporary, [[William Butler Yeats]], was present for the performance, and rendered this quotation differently in his autobiography: "I assure the gentleman in the gallery that he and I are of exactly the same opinion, but what can we do against a whole house who are of the contrary opinion?" (Yeats, ''The Trembling of the Veil, book 4: The Tragic Generation,'' from ''Autobiographies,'' in ''The Collected Works of W. B. Yeats,'' vol. 3, ed. William H. O’Donell and Douglas N. Archibald (New York: Scribner, 1999), 221).</ref> ''Arms and the Man'' humorously exposes the futility of war and the hypocrisies of human nature. ==Plot summary== [[File:Farr as Louka.jpg|frame|Production photograph of [[Florence Farr]] portraying Louka in ''Arms and the Man,'' 1894]] [[File:Smith_College_Club_of_St._Louis_presents_Arms_and_the_Man_by_Shaw,_1908.jpg|thumb|right|Actors of the [[Smith College]] Club of St. Louis are sketched rehearsing for an all-woman amateur benefit performance of George Bernard Shaw's "Arms and the Man" in December 1908. No men were allowed in the rehearsals or at the performance. The illustration is by [[Marguerite Martyn]] of the ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch.''<ref>{{cite web | url=https://stltoday.newspapers.com/image/138905979/?terms=Marguerite%2BMartyn | first=Marguerite | last=Martyn | title=College Girls Swear Real Swears in "Arms and Man | newspaper=St. Louis Post-Dispatch | date=13 December 1908 | page=Part 6, Page 1}}</ref>]] The play takes place during the 1885 [[Serbo-Bulgarian War]]. Its heroine, Raina Petkoff, is a young Bulgarian woman engaged to Sergius Saranoff, a battlefield hero whom she idolizes. On the night after the [[Battle of Slivnitsa|Battle of Slivnitza]], Captain Bluntschli, a [[Swiss mercenaries|Swiss mercenary]] in the defeated Serbian army, climbs in through her bedroom balcony and threatens her not to give the alarm. When Russian and Bulgarian troops burst in to search for him, Raina hides him. He tells her that "nine soldiers out of ten are born fools" led to slaughter by heroic fantasies. Bluntschli's businesslike attitude to war shocks the idealistic Raina, especially after he admits that he uses his ammunition pouches to carry chocolates rather than pistol cartridges. When the search dies down, Raina and her mother Catherine sneak him out of the house, disguised in one of Raina's father's old coats. The war ends and Raina's father, Major Paul Petkoff, returns home with Sergius. Raina begins to find Sergius bombastic and tiresome, but she hides it. Sergius also finds Raina's romantic ideals tiresome, and flirts with Raina's insolent servant girl Louka (a [[soubrette]] role), who is engaged to the Petkoffs' manservant Nicola. Bluntschli unexpectedly returns to give back the old coat, but also to see Raina. Raina and her mother are shocked when Major Petkoff and Sergius reveal that they have met Bluntschli before and invite him to lunch (and to help them figure out how to send the troops home). Left alone with Bluntschli, Raina realizes that though he sees through her romanticism, he respects her, as Sergius does not. She reveals that she left a photograph of herself in a pocket of the coat, inscribed "To my chocolate-cream soldier", but Bluntschli says he did not find it, and it must still be in the coat. Bluntschli gets a telegram informing him of his father's death: he must now take over the family's luxury hotels in Switzerland. Louka gossips to Sergius that Raina had protected Bluntschli and is in love with him. Sergius challenges Bluntschli to a duel, but Bluntschli evades it. Sergius and Raina break off their engagement, with some relief on both sides. Major Petkoff discovers the photograph in the pocket of his old coat; Raina and Bluntschli try to dispose of it, but Petkoff is determined to learn the truth and claims that the "chocolate-cream soldier" is Sergius. After Bluntschli confesses the whole story to Major Petkoff, Sergius proposes marriage to Louka (to Major Petkoff and Catherine's horror); the manservant Nicola quietly and gallantly lets Sergius have her; and Bluntschli, recognising Nicola's merits, offers him a job as hotel manager. While Raina is now unattached, Bluntschli protests that—being 34 and believing she is 17—he is too old for her. On learning that she is actually 23, he immediately proposes and shows her the telegram announcing his inheritance. Raina, realizing the hollowness of her romantic ideals, protests that she would prefer him as a poor "chocolate-cream soldier" than as a wealthy businessman. Bluntschli protests that he is still the same person, and she proclaims her love for him. The play ends as Bluntschli, with Swiss precision, arranges the major's troop movements and informs them he will return to marry Raina in exactly two weeks. ==Reception== [[George Orwell]] said that ''Arms and the Man'' was written when Shaw was at the height of his powers as a dramatist. "It is probably the wittiest play he ever wrote, the most flawless technically, and in spite of being a very light comedy, the most telling."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Arms and the Man {{!}} Western Washington University |url=https://cfpa.wwu.edu/event/arms-and-man |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=cfpa.wwu.edu}}</ref> His other plays of the period, equally well written, were about issues that, according to Orwell, were no longer controversial at the time Orwell was writing. For example, the theme of ''[[Mrs. Warren's Profession]]'', which so shocked audiences at the time, was that the causes of prostitution are mainly economic, which was already a common opinion in Orwell's time, and the play ''[[Widowers' Houses]]'' was an attack on slum landlords, who had since become stock villains.<ref>George Orwell,''George Bernard Shaw'', Chapter 8 in ''George Orwell, The Lost Writings'', Edited by W. J. West, Arbor House, New York, 1985.This also appears as Chapter 8 in ''Orwell, The War Broadcasts'', Edited by W. J .West, The British Broadcasting Corporation, and The Old Piano Factory, London, 1985.</ref> In 2024, an attempt to stage [[John Malkovich]]'s production of the play at [[Ivan Vazov National Theatre]] of Bulgaria was targeted by [[nationalist]] protesters that considered it a calumny of Bulgaria. The mob surrounded the theatre, threw [[smoke bomb]]s, prevented the visitors that had bought tickets from entering the theatre hall, accusing them of being traitors and threatening them, and physically assaulted the director of the play and the director of the theatre.<ref>[https://www.svobodnaevropa.bg/a/protest-naroden-teatar-piesa-dzhon-malkovichc/33192255.html Националисти провалиха постановка на Джон Малкович и атакуваха зрители пред Народния театър. Свободна Европа. 7.11.2024]</ref><ref>[https://www.24chasa.bg/ozhivlenie/article/19276706 Срамен бой и дим като на мач в Народния театър, връщат пари на хората, купили билети за премиерата на Малкович. 24 часа. 7.11.2024]</ref> ==Subsequent productions== [[File:Birmingham Open Air Theatre flyer - 1941.jpg|thumb|upright|Flyer for Birmingham Open Air Theatre, 1941, with plays including ''Arms and the Man'' performed in municipal parks during [[World War II]]. ]] * The first [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] production opened on 17 September 1894 at [[New York City]]'s [[Herald Square Theatre]]. Since then there have been six Broadway revivals, two of which are listed below. * The most prestigious London revival was directed by [[John Burrell (director)|John Burrell]] for The [[Old Vic Theatre|Old Vic]] Company at the [[Noël Coward Theatre|New Theatre]], which opened on 5 September 1944, starring [[Ralph Richardson]] (Bluntschli), [[Margaret Leighton]] (Raina Petkoff), [[Joyce Redman]] (Louka), and [[Laurence Olivier]] (Major Sergius Saranoff). "Olivier thought Sergius a humbug, a buffoon, a blackguard, a coward, 'a bloody awful part' until [[Tyrone Guthrie]] said he would never succeed in the role until he learned to love Sergius. Olivier, spurred and moustachioed, was high camp": Robert Tanitch.<ref>London Stage in the 20th Century, by Robert Tanitch, Haus (2007) {{ISBN|978-1-904950-74-5}}</ref> * A revival production ran at [[New York City]]'s Arena Theatre from 19 October 1950 to 21 January 1951, for a total of 108 performances. The cast included [[Lee Grant]] as Raina, [[Francis Lederer]] as Bluntschli and [[Sam Wanamaker]] as Sergius. * [[Marlon Brando]]'s final stage appearance was in ''Arms and the Man'' in 1953. He gathered friends who were fellow actors into a company for a summer stock production. He chose to play Sergius while [[William Redfield (actor)|William Redfield]] starred as Bluntschli.<ref>Variety staff (8 July 1953). [https://www.mediafire.com/view/lkr9mv6svpd8nbf/ "Brando Picks Barn Trek (At Nominal $125 Wage) to Give Jobs to Friends"]. ''Variety''. pp.&nbsp;1, 14. Retrieved 21 November 2021.</ref><ref>Dias (15 July 1953). [https://www.mediafire.com/view/8f1bmtrbrtbchvj/ Legitimate – Straw Hat Reviews: Arms and the Man]. ''Variety'' . p.&nbsp;58. Retrieved 21 November 2021.</ref> The show was produced on the college circuit as well in the 1950s.<ref name=Arms54>{{cite magazine| title=Players to Give Drama by Shaw | magazine=[[Star Tribune|The Minneapolis Star]]|date=3 May 1954 }}</ref> * [[Carroll Baker]], following her enormous success in [[Baby Doll]], toured in the play in the summer of 1957. * The play was produced in 1982 at the [[Stratford Shakespeare Festival]], with [[Brian Bedford]] as Bluntschli and [[Len Cariou]] as Sergius. * The [[Studio Arena Theater]] in Buffalo, New York, put on a production of ''Arms and the Man'' in 1983 with [[Kelsey Grammer]] as Sergius.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Studio Arena|date=1 January 1984|title=Playbill for Arms and the Man|journal=Studio Arena Programs|url=http://digitalcommons.buffalostate.edu/saprograms/44/}}</ref> * A [[Channel 4]] television production in 1983<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1507561|title=IMDB BBC production Arms and the man (1983)|website=[[IMDb]]}}</ref> starring [[Richard Briers]] as Captain Bluntschli, [[Peter Egan]] as Major Sergius Saranoff, [[Alice Krige]] as Raina and [[Anna Nygh]] as Louka.{{fact|date=January 2024}} * In 1985 [[John Malkovich]] directed a revival production at [[New York City]]'s [[Circle in the Square Theatre]] starring [[Kevin Kline]] as Bluntschli (later replaced by Malkovich after Kline's departure), [[Glenne Headly]] as Raina and [[Raul Julia]] as Sergius. The production ran from 30 May to 1 September 1985, for a total of 109 performances.{{fact|date=January 2024}} * The [[BBC]] produced a second made-for-TV version<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbcamericashop.com/default.asp?cpa=product&id=3734&ctl=81&cc=21242&tt= |title=Home at BBC Shop |publisher=Bbcamericashop.com |access-date=21 January 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120311073137/http://www.bbcamericashop.com/default.asp?cpa=product&id=3734&ctl=81&cc=21242&tt= |archive-date=11 March 2012 }}</ref> in 1989, directed by [[James Cellan Jones]], starring [[Helena Bonham Carter]] as Raina, [[Pip Torrens]] as Bluntschli, [[Patrick Ryecart]] as Sergius and [[Patsy Kensit]] as Louka.{{fact|date=January 2024}} * The 1991 production by Channel Theatre Company opened the Malvern Festival before touring the UK. Directed by Philip Dart it featured Sebastian Abineri, Steven Pinner, Juliette Kaplan, Charles Stapley, Mary Woodvine, Andrew Wheaton, Susan Gott and Colin Atkins.{{fact|date=January 2024}} * In 2011 the play was presented by the [[Guthrie Theater]] in Minneapolis, Minnesota; The Seattle Public Theater; and the Constellation Theatre Company in Washington, D.C.{{fact|date=January 2024}} * In the summer of 2013, [[Odyssey Theatre]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.odysseytheatre.ca |title=odysseytheatre.ca |publisher=odysseytheatre.ca |date=9 December 2013 |access-date=21 January 2014}}</ref> in [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]], Canada performed a masked performance of this play.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.odysseytheatre.ca/index.php/events/theatre-under-the-stars/|title=Odyssey Theatre / Theatre Under the Stars}}</ref> * The [[Shaw Festival]] at [[Niagara-on-the-Lake|Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario]], has performed the play a number of times: in 1967, 1976, 1986, 1994, 2006 and 2014, the last directed by [[Morris Panych]].<ref>[http://www.shawfest.com/about-the-shaw/mandate-and-history/ "History"], Shaw Festival, accessed 5 January 2016</ref> * The play opened at the [[American Shakespeare Center]]'s [[Blackfriars Playhouse]] in [[Staunton, Virginia]], on 29 April 2016 and ran until 11 June.{{fact|date=January 2024}} * In 2023, the play is produced [[Off-Broadway]] in [[New York City]] at [[Theatre Row (New York City)|Theatre Row]], by [[Gingold Theatrical Group]], and directed by [[David Staller]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Keddy |first=Genevieve Rafter |title=Photos: ARMS AND THE MAN Cast and Creative Meets The Press |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/off-broadway/article/Photos-ARMS-AND-THE-MAN-Cast-and-Creative-Meets-The-Press-20230920 |access-date=2023-09-25 |website=BroadwayWorld.com |language=en}}</ref> ==Adaptations== [[File:Chocolate Soldier - Workman.jpg|thumb|The scene in ''[[The Chocolate Soldier]]'' in which Bumerli (the equivalent of Bluntschli) enters the bedroom of Nadina (the equivalent of Raina), in a 1910 London production]] *Shaw gave {{Interlanguage link multi|Leopold Jacobson|de}} the rights to adapt the play into what became the operetta ''[[The Chocolate Soldier]]'' (1908) with music by [[Oscar Straus (composer)|Oscar Straus]], but under three conditions: none of Shaw's dialogue or character names could be used, the musical version must be advertised as a parody of Shaw's play, and Shaw would accept no payment. Nonetheless, the operetta kept Shaw's original plot and central message.<ref name="bare_url">Ellwood Annaheim (February 2002). "Shaw's Folly – Straus' Fortune". Archived from the original on 20 June 2005. https://web.archive.org/web/20050620092840/http://www.geocities.com/musictheater/chocolate/chocolate.html.</ref> Shaw despised the result, calling it "a putrid ''opéra bouffe'' in the worst taste of 1860", but grew to regret not accepting payment when, despite his opinion, it became a lucrative international success.<ref name="bare_url" /> *When Shaw heard, in 1921, that [[Franz Lehár]] wanted to set his play ''[[Pygmalion (play)|Pygmalion]]'' to music, he sent word to Vienna that Lehár be instructed that he could not touch ''Pygmalion'' without infringing Shaw's copyright and that Shaw had "no intention of allowing the history of ''The Chocolate Soldier'' to be repeated."<ref name="bare_url" /> Only after Shaw's death was ''Pygmalion'' eventually adapted by [[Lerner and Loewe]] as ''[[My Fair Lady]]'' (1956). *A [[Arms and the Man (1932 film)|1932 British film adaptation]] (now believed lost) was directed by [[Cecil Arthur Lewis|Cecil Lewis]]. It starred [[Barry Jones (actor)|Barry Jones]] as Bluntschli and [[Anne Grey]] as Raina. *A filmed version of ''Arms and the Man'' in [[German language|German]] entitled ''[[Arms and the Man (1958 film)|Helden]]'' (''Heroes'') starring [[O. W. Fischer]] and [[Liselotte Pulver]] was runner up for the [[Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film]] in 1958. *An audio version was produced by the [[BBC]] in 1975 starring [[Ralph Richardson]] as Captain Bluntschli, [[John Gielgud]] as Major Sergius Saranoff, [[Vanessa Redgrave]] as Raina and [[Judi Dench]] as Louka. *A second BBC radio production was produced in 1984 and broadcast on [[BBC Radio 7]] in February 2009 starring [[Andrew Sachs]] as Captain Bluntschli, [[Jackie Smith-Wood]] as Raina and [[Gary Bond]] as Major Saranoff. *A third BBC Radio production was broadcast on [[BBC Radio 3]] on 21 March 2010 starring [[Rory Kinnear]] as Captain Bluntschli, [[Lydia Leonard]] as Raina and [[Tom Mison]] as Major Saranoff. This production was produced by [[Nicolas Soames]] and directed by [[David Timson]]. *An audio version was produced in 1999 by the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]] starring [[Simon Bradbury]] as Captain Bluntschli, [[Elizabeth Brown (actor)|Elizabeth Brown]] as Raina and [[Andrew Gillies]] as Major Saranoff. *Another audio version was produced in 2006 by the [[L.A. Theatre Works]] starring [[Jeremy Sisto]] as Captain Bluntschli, [[Anne Heche]] as Raina and [[Teri Garr]] as Catherine. *A [[musical theatre|musical]] by [[Udo Jürgens]], ''Helden, Helden'', also based on Shaw's play, premiered at the [[Theater an der Wien]], [[Vienna]], Austria in 1973. ==Pejorative military use of "chocolate soldier"== The chocolate-cream soldier of the play has inspired a pejorative military use of the term.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}} [[Israel|Israeli]] soldiers use the term "chocolate soldier" (''hayal shel shokolad'', חייל של שוקולד) to disparage a soldier not tough enough to fight.<ref>Rosenthal, Ruvik. ''[[Maariv (newspaper)|Maariv]]'', 11 September 2007</ref> The Australian [[Citizens Military Force]] were derided by the regular army as "chokos" or chocolate soldiers, implying they were not real soldiers.<ref>[http://www.livinghistory.com.au/Characters/ausanzac.htm "Australian Soldier – Kokoda Track 1942"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502105611/http://www.livinghistory.com.au/Characters/ausanzac.htm |date=2 May 2013 }}, livinghistory.com, accessed 22 September 2010</ref><ref>[http://www.battleforaustralia.org.au/2903/Overview/Kokoda_Trail_1 "Kokoda Trail I"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140125065832/http://battleforaustralia.org.au/2903/Overview/Kokoda_Trail_1/ |date=25 January 2014 }}, ''Battle For Australia'', accessed 22 September 2010</ref> ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== {{wikisource|Arms and the Man (Shaw)|Arms and the Man}} * {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/george-bernard-shaw/arms-and-the-man}} * [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3618 The script of ''Arms and the Man'' at Project Gutenberg] * {{librivox book | title=Arms and the Man | author=George Bernard Shaw}} * {{ibdb show|1681}} * [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0862646/ Internet Movie Database entry for ''Arms and the Man''] * {{cite web | last=McNabb | first=Jim | url=http://www.artsalive.ca/pdf/eth/activities/arms_guide.pdf | title=''Arms and the Man'' by George Bernard Shaw : Study Guide | publisher=National Arts Centre | location=Ottawa | access-date = 12 April 2011}} * {{cite web|last=Smith |first=Nicole |url=http://www.articlemyriad.com/51.htm |title=''Arms and the Man'' by George Bernard Shaw : Class and Social Critique in the Play |access-date=12 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707165721/http://www.articlemyriad.com/51.htm |archive-date=7 July 2011 }} {{George Bernard Shaw}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Arms and the Man}} [[Category:1894 plays]] [[Category:Fiction set in 1885]] [[Category:Plays by George Bernard Shaw]] [[Category:British plays adapted into films]] [[Category:Serbo-Bulgarian War]] [[Category:Plays set in Bulgaria]] [[Category:Plays set in Serbia]] [[Category:Plays set in the 1880s]]'