First produced in 1885, this mild satire, the first of Shaw’s”Plays Pleasant”, is set in the Petkoff household in Bulgaria in 1885 and highlights the illusions of war, romance and class. Captain Bluntschli, a battle-weary Swiss mercenary fighting for the Serbian army, takes refuge in Raina Petkoff’s bedchamber, where she hides him from the authorities and, subsequently, helps him to flee.
In response to his matter-of-fact account of the war, in which he debunks the heroism of her fiancé Major Sergius Seranoff, Raina at first ridicules the intruder’s cowardliness but ultimately appreciates his honesty. Some time later, after the war is over, Bluntschli returns. By the end of the play, Sergius has promised himself to the maidservant Louka, the manservant Nicole, willingly forgoes his claim to her, and Raina has become engaged to Bluntschli, who has just inherited a number of Swiss hotels.

Cast

Crew