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Journey's End

Journey's End is the seventh and most famous play by R. C. Sherriff. First performed in 1928, it is set in the trenches at Saint-Quentin, France, in 1918, and gives a brief glimpse into the experiences of the officers of a British Army infantry company in World War I.

Sherriff considered calling it "Suspense" and "Waiting", but eventually found a title in the closing line of a chapter of an unmentioned book: "It was late in the evening when we came at last to our journey's end."

It is usually thought to be a very academic play, due to its many alternate themes and characters. The play is often studied by students looking for a classical example of plays based on war.

Dramatis personae and original cast

The first production of the play was performed by the Incorporated Stage Society at the Apollo Theatre in London on December 9 1928 with the following cast:

David Horne as Captain Hardy
Laurence Olivier as Captain Dennis Stanhope (bitter, often emotionless, due to experiences in war)
George Zucco as Lieutenant Osborne (an avuncular figure, referred to as "Uncle")
Maurice Evans as Second Lieutenant Jimmy Raleigh (educated, keen, innocent, naive)
Melville Cooper as Second Lieutenant Trotter (portly, good-humoured, working-class man)
Robert Speaight as Second Lieutenant Hibbert (seen as false by the audience and other characters)
Alexander Field as Private Mason, cook (dour, long-suffering, comic)
Percy Walsh as The Company Sergeant-Major
H. G. Stoker as The Colonel (seen as unsentimental)
Geoffrey Wincott as the German prisoner

Plot

The entire action takes place in the officers' dugout over the space of four days, 18 March 1918 to 21 March 1918.

Act I Scene I

Journey’s End opens in the British trenches before St. Quentin with a conversation between Captain Hardy and Lieutenant Osborne. Captain Hardy jokes about the behaviour of a soldier called Stanhope who has turned to alcohol in order to cope with the stress which the war has caused him. While Hardy jokes, Osborne defends Stanhope and describes him as the “best company commander we’ve got”.

In the early pages other characters are introduced. Mason is a comedy character, a servant cook forever apologising for the lack of ingredients and quality of food he serves up. Trotter is a rotund soldier who likes his food; he can’t stand the war and counts down each hour that he serves in the front line by drawing circles onto a piece of paper and then colouring them in.

Raleigh is a young and naive soldier who joins the company. Raleigh knew Stanhope from school where he was skipper at rugby and refers to him as Dennis. He admits that he requested to be sent to Stanhope’s company. Osborne hints to him that Stanhope will not be the same person who he knew from school, as the experiences of war have changed him, however Raleigh does not seem to understand.

Stanhope is angry that Raleigh has been allowed to join him and describes the boy as a “hero-worshipper”. As Stanhope is in a relationship with Raleigh’s sister Madge, he is concerned that he will write home and inform her of his drinking. Stanhope considers censoring his letters so that this does not happen.

It is clear that Stanhope has a sense of duty and feels that he has got to continue to serve rather than taking a break. He criticises another soldier called Hibbert whom he thinks is faking neuralgia, a nerve condition, so that he can be sent home instead of continuing fighting. The first Act ends with Osborne putting a tired and somewhat drunk Stanhope to bed. Stanhope refers to Osborne as ‘Uncle’.

Act II Scene I

Act II begins with talk of food between Trotter and Mason as they discuss the bacon rashers which the company have to eat. Trotter talks about how the start of spring makes him feel youthful; he also talks about the hollyhocks which he has planted. This is a way of escaping the trenches and the reality of the war.

Osborne and Raleigh discuss how slowly time passes at the front, and the fact that both of them played rugby before the war and that Osborne was a schoolmaster before he signed up to fight; while Raleigh appears interested, Osborne points out that it is of little use now. Osborne describes the madness of war when describing how German soldiers allowed the British to rescue a wounded soldier in No Man's Land and the next day the two sides shelled each other heavily. He describes the war as "silly".

Stanhope announces that the barbed wire around the trenches needs to be mended. It is announced that an advance will occur on Thursday evening, and that this information has been gathered from a captured German soldier. They state that this means the attack is only two days away.

The scene ends with Stanhope telling Raleigh that he must read his letter and censor it; this makes Raleigh nervous, and he states that he would rather not send it. Stanhope gets the letter off him, but rather than reading about his alcoholism he finds the letter states how proud Raleigh is to consider Stanhope as a friend but also as a hero.

Act II Scene II

In a meeting with the Sergeant Major it is announced that the raid is taking place on Thursday. Stanhope and the Sergeant-Major discuss battle plans. The Colonel relays orders that the General wants a raid to take place on the German trench prior to the attack. Stanhope states that such a plan is absurd, he implies that it should take place in daylight "a surprise daylight raid". The Colonel agrees with Stanhope but says that orders are orders and that they must be obeyed. Later it is stated that the Germans have tied red cloth to the barbed wire of their trenches to make it clear to the British that they are aware exactly where the British will try and attack.

It is decided that Osborne and Raleigh will be the officers to go on the raid despite the fact that Raleigh has only recently entered the war.

Hibbert goes to Stanhope to complain about the neuralgia he states he has been suffering from. Stanhope states that it would be better for him to die from the pain, than for being shot for desertion. Hibbert maintains that he does have neuralgia but when Stanhope threatens to shoot him if he goes, he breaks down crying. The two soldiers admit to each other that they feel exactly the same way, and are struggling to cope with the stresses that the war is putting on them.

Osborne admits that he reads Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in the trench. This is similar to Stanhope’s drinking and Trotter talking about his garden in that they all allow escape from the realities of the war. The scene ends with the idealistic Raleigh, who is untouched by the war, stating that it is “frightfully exciting” that he has been picked for the raid.

Act III Scene I

There is confirmation that the raid is still going ahead. The Colonel states that a German soldier needs to be captured so that intelligence can be extracted from him. Osborne admits to Stanhope that he fears he might die and asks Stanhope to look after some of his possessions if he does not come back.

In the minutes before going over the top Raleigh and Osborne talk about home – the New Forest and the town of Lyndhurst, in order to pass the time.

Smoke-bombs are fired and the soldiers move towards the German trench, a German boy soldier is captured. However Stanhope finds out that Osborne has been killed although Raleigh has survived. Stanhope sarcastically states: “It’ll be awfully nice the Brigadier’s pleased” when the Colonel's first concern is whether information has been gathered, not whether all the soldiers have returned safely.

The scene ends with Raleigh, without thinking, sitting on Osborne’s bed, causing a sad, and seemingly furious Stanhope to ask him must he sit there so soon after his death.

Act III Scene II

Trotter, Stanhope and Hibbert drink and talk about women. They all appear to be enjoying themselves until Hibbert brings up the raid in conversation, then Stanhope becomes angry and begins to shout at him and tells him to go away. Stanhope also becomes angry at Raleigh who did not eat with the men that night. Stanhope is offended by this and Raleigh eventually admits that he feels he cannot eat while he thinks that Osborne is dead and his body is in No Man’s Land. Stanhope admits that he drinks to cope with the fact that Osborne is dead. Stanhope asks to be left alone and angrily tells Raleigh to leave.

Act III Scene III

The play climaxes with a German attack on the British trenches, which the Sergeant Major tells Stanhope they should expect. When it arrives Hibbert is reluctant to get out of bed and get into the trenches.

A message is relayed to Stanhope telling him that Raleigh has been injured by a shell and that his spine is damaged meaning that he can't move his legs. Stanhope runs to comfort Raleigh and brings him a drink of water whilst bathing the boy's head while he is unable to move. Raleigh passes away silently as shells continue to explode around him. A last bomb hits the trench causing its collapse leading the reader to assume the cast perish.

Themes

Conflict: the relationships of the characters, particularly between Raleigh and Stanhope, as well as Stanhope's inner conflict
Death: the deaths of two of the most important characters in the play (Osborne, the paternal figure, and Raleigh, the figure of innocence and naivety) are extremely important, as are their effects on Stanhope.
The futility of war: the fact that war is futile is pointed to by Sherriff in many of the play's scenes. For example Osborne describes to Raleigh how some German soldiers assisted their troops in retrieving a wounded soldier, yet we "blow (them) to bits the day after".
The scarring effect of war: portrayed in the terrible effect of the war on the officers; may convey Sherriff's anti-war views.
Love and friendship: the love between the two friends (Osborne and Stanhope), the hero worship of Stanhope by Raleigh, and the fatherly attitude of Osborne, known as "Uncle", are all important themes within the play.
Class: the contrast between the middle/upper class officers, the lower middle class Trotter (now a commissioned officer, but a former sergeant major), and the working class Mason.
Camaraderie: throughout the play there are instances of comradeship and unity.

Production history

Sherriff had trouble getting the play produced in the West End, writing that "Every management in London had turned the play down. They said people didn't want war plays [...] 'How can I put on a play with no leading lady?' one [theatre manager] had asked complainingly."

Geoffrey Dearmer of the Incorporated Stage Society suggested that Sherriff send the script to George Bernard Shaw, because a good word from him would convince the ISS committee to stage it. Shaw replied that, like other sketches of trench life, it was a "useful [corrective] to the romantic conception of war", and that "As a 'slice of life'—horribly abnormal life—I should say let it be performed by all means".

The play opened as a semi-staged production running for two nights at the Apollo Theatre. It starred Laurence Olivier, then only 21, offered the role of Stanhope by the then equally unknown director James Whale. The play soon transferred to the Savoy Theatre where it ran for over a year starting on January 21, 1929 with the entire cast from the Apollo reprising their roles (George Zucco playing Osborne and Maurice Evans Raleigh) except for Olivier who had secured another role and was replaced by Colin Clive as Stanhope.

Whale accompanied the play's transfer to Broadway in 1930, with the dress rehearsal at the Henry Miller Theater, the first performance in USA at the Great Neck Playhouse in Great Neck, New York on the north shore of Long Island, and the Broadway première the next evening. Colin Keith-Johnston played Stanhope, and Leon Quartermaine Osborne.

By the northern hemisphere autumn of 1929 it was played by 14 companies in English and 17 in other languages; in London (where it later moved to the Prince of Wales Theatre), New York, Paris (in English), Stockholm, Berlin, Rome, Vienna, Madrid, and Budapest, and in Canada, Australia, and South Africa.

In 1930, James Whale directed a motion picture based on the play, starring Colin Clive, David Manners and Ian Maclaren.

The play was produced by the BBC Television Service, live from their Alexandra Palace studios, on November 11 1937, in commemoration of Armistice Day. Condensed down into a one-hour version by producer George More O'Ferrall, some short sequences from the 1930 film Westfront 1918 by G. W. Pabst were used for scene-setting purposes. Reginald Tate starred as Stanhope, with Basil Gill as Osborne, Norman Pierce as Trotter, Wallace Douglas as Raleigh, J. Neil More as the Colonel, R. Brooks Turner as the Company Sergeant-Major, Alexander Field as Mason, Reginald Smith as Hardy and Olaf Olsen as the young German soldier. Due to the live nature of the play and the fact that the technology to record television programmes did not exist at the time, no visual records of the production survive other than still photographs.

The play has been revived in the West End three times since and has received countless school and amateur productions.

Sherriff produced a novelisation of the play in 1930.

Journey's End was the basis for the 1976 film Aces High, although the action was switched from the infantry to the Royal Flying Corps.

The play was also adapted for television in 1988, starring Jeremy Northam as Stanhope, Edward Petherbridge as Osborne and Timothy Spall as Trotter. It held very close to the original script although there were changes, the most obvious being the inclusion of the raid on camera (which was done off-stage in the theatre production), and is frequently still shown in conjunction with study of the written play at an academic level.

Rights to the play are owned by the British Scout Association.

Recent productions

In 2004, the play was once again revived by David Grindley in London's West End, becoming the undoubted hit success of the year. From its initial 12-week season at the Comedy Theatre from January 2004, it transferred to the Playhouse Theatre, playing from April to October before transferring once again to the Duke of York's Theatre and playing into its second year, finally closing on 18 February 2005.

At the same time, the phenomenal success of the production led to another company being formed to tour the UK venues, initially booking ten theatres across the country in Autumn of 2004.

The success of this tour led to its continuation into 2005, finally closing on the road in July 2005 after playing to over 30 venues across Britain. In September 2005, the production's popularity and public demand led to its return once again to the West End, and its fourth London home - the New Ambassadors Theatre, where it opened on 15 September. This particular production came to an end on 28 January 2006.

In 2007, the Rhodes Centre featured the play for three consecutive nights

Grindley's production received its Broadway airing in 2007. Starring Hugh Dancy, Boyd Gaines, Jefferson Mays and Stark Sands, Journey's End opened to previews in New York at the Belasco Theatre on February 8 with its official opening on February 22, 2007. It closed on June 10 after 125 regular performances. That same evening, it won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play in 2007.