Michael Friend is said to have played a significant role in promoting the works of George Bernard Shaw before the theatre director and producer died in 2023. Now Rumpus Theatre Company and the Sarah Thorne Theatre, Broadstairs are touring Shaw’s Arms and the Man as a tribute to Friend. For more than 20 years, he staged a Shaw open-air production at Shaw’s Corner near Welwyn in Hertfordshire, the primary residence of the renowned Irish playwright.
Shaw had been writing plays for several years before the comedy Arms and the Man became his first financial success. Some people regard it as the wittiest of his 60 plays written when he was at the height of his powers as a dramatist. But Arms and the Man doesn’t get dusted off the shelves as often as some of his other works such as Pygmalion and Mrs Warren’s Profession. The BTG has reviewed only one other production of Arms and the Man, at the Orange Tree Theatre in 2022. That may be because the comedy is gentle rather than sparkling.
But there’s little wrong with this production which has only a handful of performances left before the end of its run. The seven-strong cast all appeared in the 2024 Colin McIntyre Classic Thriller Season at Nottingham’s Theatre Royal. It’s evident they’ve all worked together before and impressively bounce off one another. John Goodrum who designs and directs Arms and the Man never lets it descend into parody, allowing his actors to tell the story eloquently and consummately.
The play is set during the 1885 Serbo-Bulgarian war. Raina Petkoff, a young Bulgarian woman, is engaged to Major Sergius Saranoff. He heroically leads the Bulgarian cavalry in a battle.
Escaping Serbs fleeing the battlefield are said to be seeking refuge in the houses of Bulgarian families. A Swiss captain who’s fighting with the Serbs, referred to in the programme only as The Man, climbs into Raina’s bedroom and threatens her with a gun. She hides him behind the curtains. But he doesn’t have any bullets in his holster—he has chocolate, which is why he becomes known as the “chocolate cream soldier”.
As the Petkoff family and those around them struggle to hold on to their secrets and preserve their ideals, nothing is as it seems. They are forced to question their romantic notions about class, identity, war and love.
One of the intriguing aspects of Arms and the Man is that it enables many of the actors to undertake slightly different roles from the ones we have seen them perform in other shows. For instance, Karen Henson revels in her role as Catherine Petkoff, the wealthy mother who is so concerned about her social status that she can’t see through people.
Pavan Maru clearly enjoys playing Major Saranoff, the foolish fighter who has been lucky in battle. His intractability is exemplified when, hands on hips, he thrusts his head into the air and postures. And Juliette Strobel shines as Louka, the opinionated, defiant servant who doesn’t conform to the life planned out for her.
With customary strong performances from Sarah Wynne Kordas as Raina, Goodrum as The Man, David Martin as head servant Nicola and David Gilbrook as Major Petkoff, this is a pleasant production which is worth investing in. Michael Friend and George Bernard Shaw would probably have approved.