Review:Waterloo: A Case-Book on SACD's Historical Play/Christopher Roden
This review of the book "Waterloo: A Case-Book on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Historical Play", edited by David Skene-Melvin was written by Christopher Roden and published in the A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society (Vol. 8, 1998).
This review presents Waterloo: A Case-Book on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Historical Play as a useful companion volume that gathers essays, background material, and the texts of both the play and A Straggler of '15. It values the book especially for making Conan Doyle's long-inaccessible play readily available again, while noting some editorial omissions and minor production flaws.
Review
- Waterloo: A Case-Book on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Historical Play
- David Skene-Melvin (ed.)
- Published for The Friends of the ACD Collection Toronto Reference Library
- 1998; 76pp;
- ISBN: 1-55246-112-2;
- Cdn$38.50 (Cdn$33.50 to Members of the Friends)
Reviewed by Christopher Roden
To coincide with the revival by the 1998 Shaw Festival of Conan Doyle's play Waterloo, and effectively to coincide with the first major event staged by the newly-formed Friends of the ACD Collection, a slim case-book dealing with various aspects of the play and its production was published. It's not clear quite what rôle the Friends had in the publication of the book: the title page indicates that the book was published 'for The Friends', and it seems that the actual production was in the hands of George Vanderburgh; but certainly, a goodly number of the contributions in the book come from Friends and those directly associated with the Toronto Reference Library.
The Shaw's production of Waterloo is reviewed elsewhere in this issue and it is encouraging to learn that the play was generally well received, even if the debate continues as to whether or not it was right to remove the final line as written by Conan Doyle. Regrettably, I was unable to attend the production to witness the effect of the change personally, but having prepared a text of both the play and 'A Straggler of '15' very recently for the ACD Discussion Group, I have had cause to ponder my own view on the matter. It seems to me, from what I have read of Irving's performance of the play, that he used this-and, for that matter, any other opportunity-to milk the part for all it was worth. Bram Stoker may well have enthused, but one can visualise a modern day reaction being more attuned to thinking that Irving was, as we say, 'chewing the scenery'. George Bernard Shaw, of course, even though we must bear in mind his intense dislike of Irving, seemed to agree with this assessment. In his review of the play, 'Mr Irving Takes Paregoric', he wrote, 'There is absolutely no acting in it-none whatever. There is a make-up in it, and a little cheap and simple mimicry which Mr Irving does indifferently because he is neither apt nor observant as a mimic of doddering old men, and because his finely cultivated voice and diction again and again rebel against the indignity of the Corporal's squeakings and mumblings and vulgarities of pronunciation. But all the rest is an illusion produced by the machinery of "a good acting play", by which is always meant a play that requires no qualifications. beyond plausible appearance and a little experience and address in stage business.'
It is in connection with GBS that one must note, with regret, that the text of his review was not, I understand for copyright reasons, able to be included in the Waterloo Casebook. A small number of off-prints was, however, available to those attending the production. Those interested can, of course, find the review elsewhere, most conveniently when considering this play in W. D. King's Henry Irving's Waterloo (University of California Press, 1993).
Returning to the book under review here, one notes that the front. endpaper reproduces the programme for the play's first staging at the Prince's Theatre, Park Row, Bristol on Friday 21 September 1894. Conan Doyle, much, one suspects, to his disappointment, did not attend he was en route for America — but he was pleased to receive well-deserved congratulatory telegrams.
The contributions which occupy the first half of the book are varied: Denis Johnston, Co-Director of the Shaw Festival, outlines the Shaw connections with the play; Douglas Wrigglesworth outlines the objectives of The Friends of the ACD Collection; Victoria Gill, the Collection's curator, adds a note on the Collection itself; and there are two more substantial essays, 'Literary Dignity' by Douglas Elliott, and 'Waterloo — The Story of the Play' by Clifford S. Goldfarb. Doug Elliott's contribution is an overview of Conan Doyle's historical fiction, which re-emphasises ACD's hope that his historical fiction would outlive Sherlock Holmes. Cliff Goldfarb explores the play's background in depth, examining the history of the Hougoumont incident, the adaptation of 'A Straggler of '15' into a play, various performances and reviews, and the one film version, about which no one can be absolutely certain, since little can be discovered about it. The play's director for this revival, Ian Prinsloo, adds a short note, as does Tony van Bridge, the 81-year old Shaw veteran, who brought his own interpretation to the rôle of Corporal Brewster. The remainder of the volume is taken up with the text of 'A Straggler of '15' and the text of the play itself.
It would have been helpful had there been a note on the source of the play text used in this volume. King (p. 241) notes that he has located four separate editions, three privately printed around 1893, and the fourth issued by Samuel French Ltd. in 1907. In addition, the play was reprinted in One-Act Plays of To-Day (London: Harrap, 1925). It would appear, from a cursory comparison of texts, that the one we have here follows the Samuel French version. All told, this is a useful volume, providing, as it does, an easily accessible text of the play, something that has been lacking for many years. A heavier paper stock, with increased opacity, would have added to the visual appeal of the production-as it is, the stock is so light that text and illustrations suffer from an irritating show-through on each page but perhaps this is a minor quibble from one whose aesthetic senses are deep-rooted where books are concerned.
A very handsome, though somewhat too large, dust-jacket completes the volume.
Christopher Roden
- Article courtesy Christopher Roden, founder of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society (1989-2003).
