Why is this play not better known? Like Sherriff’s much more familiar Journey’s End, Allan Monkhouse’s The Conquering Hero seeks to expose the sordid reality of warfare and attack the shallowness and ignorance of jingoistic, death-or-glory patriotism, and it does so with great conviction. First published in 1923, and apparently written as early as 1915, its scepticism and the vigorous way it challenges old certainties give it a distinctly modern tone. The opening scene is set in August 1914 and many members of the well-to-do Rokeby family are eagerly anticipating the coming conflict with Germany. They see the war as an opportunity for young men to prove their real worth, an opportunity, as Rupert Brooke put it, to turn away from a decadent peaceful world ‘grown old and cold and weary’.
This unquestioning enthusiasm is not shared by the two sons of the family. Stephen is a Church of England cleric and a committed pacifist; his brother Christopher, the central character of the play, is a novelist who finds single-minded commitment of any kind simplistic. He initially refuses to enlist, loathing the way that the ‘awful, compelling power’ of the war seems to have swept aside any kind of nuanced thought. Everything now seems very definite; there is no space left for argument, yet his trade is to play with ideas. He appalls his sister Margaret by wondering if it might not be such a bad thing if Germany were to succeed in invading. She accuses him of cowardice; his fiancée, Helen, breaks off their relationship. However, his father, Colonel Rokeby, does not condemn him. He is baffled by the subtlety of his son’s thoughts, but he knows that he is no coward and that his reluctance to fight arises from sincerely held doubt, not fear. Then Christopher surprises everyone, including himself, by enlisting. Typically, he is attracted to the paradoxical idea that perhaps the only way he can escape the war is by joining it. He survives and comes home to a hero’s welcome, but his subtle mind has proved to be too frail.
Piers Wehner is excellent as the quixotic, introspective and scrupulously honest Christopher. Though this script-in-hand production has been created in a very short period of time, he was already thoroughly in command of the role on the first night. He is well supported by a strong cast. I particularly liked Saskia Portway’s portrayal of the ferociously single-minded Margaret, who suspects her husband may have been too willing to be taken prisoner rather than do the noble thing and die fighting, but who glows with pride when hearing later that he has succumbed to wounds sustained in battle.
The acoustics in the splendid Reception Room of the Wills Memorial Building are perhaps not ideal, but I found that this did not seriously detract from this enterprising co-production from Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory and Bristol University. Directed in-the-round by Andrew Hilton, the cast most certainly do not deliver mere readings, but give fully-fledged performances. The Conquering Hero is a fine, brave play, with perhaps greater depth than Journey’s End, and SATTF and Bristol University are to be congratulated for giving us this rare opportunity to see it. ★★★☆☆ Mike Whitton 07/10/14
