The Recruiting Officer
Encyclopedia
The Recruiting Officer is a 1706 play by the Irish writer George Farquhar
, which follows the social and sexual exploits of two officers, the womanising Plume and the cowardly Brazen, in the town of Shrewsbury
to recruit soldiers. The characters of the play are generally stock, in keeping with the genre
of Restoration Comedy
.
.
Meanwhile Melinda continues to encourage Brazen, until going to a fortune teller (in fact Kite in disguise), where she is convinced to relent to Worthy's courtship. She is also tricked by being given a sample of her handwriting by the 'fortune teller', who takes it from a 'devil' he has conjured up under the table (in fact Plume). The fortune teller is then visited by Brazen, who leaves a love letter from (as he thinks) Melinda with Kite. However, by comparing the handwriting sample, Worthy discovers that the letter is in fact from Melinda's maid Lucy, who hopes to ensnare Brazen as a husband. Worthy then goes to visit Melinda but, on going to tell Plume the good news, finds out that Melinda seems to be eloping with Brazen after all. Worthy intercepts Brazen and the disguised Lucy and challenges Brazen to a duel, but Lucy drops her disguise and the duel is prevented. Plume agrees to leave the army and marry Sylvia, Melinda relents towards Worthy, and Plume transfers his twenty recruits to Brazen to compensate him for the loss of a rich marriage with Melinda.
, by the convicts of the First Fleet
in 1789 under the governance of Captain Arthur Phillip RN (also Commodore of the First Fleet
)., as well as the first performance of the original Dock Street Theatre in Historic downtown Charleston, SC in 1736.
There have been two television
adaptations of the play, one in 1965 for Australian television, and one Play of the Month
in 1973, the latter starring Ian McKellen
as Plume, Prunella Ransome
as his sweetheart Silvia, Jane Asher
as Melinda, John Moffatt
as Brazen, and Brian Blessed
as Sergeant Kite.
adapted The Recruiting Officer as Trumpets and Drums in 1955. Thomas Keneally
wrote a novel, The Playmaker, based on the staging of this play by the First Fleet. That novel was adapted into a play, Our Country's Good
, in 1988, by Timberlake Wertenbaker
. Both works deal with the nature and merits of punishment, rehabilitation and theatre.
George Farquhar
George Farquhar was an Irish dramatist. He is noted for his contributions to late Restoration comedy, particularly for his plays The Recruiting Officer and The Beaux' Stratagem .-Early life:...
, which follows the social and sexual exploits of two officers, the womanising Plume and the cowardly Brazen, in the town of Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...
to recruit soldiers. The characters of the play are generally stock, in keeping with the genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
of Restoration Comedy
Restoration comedy
Restoration comedy refers to English comedies written and performed in the Restoration period from 1660 to 1710. After public stage performances had been banned for 18 years by the Puritan regime, the re-opening of the theatres in 1660 signalled a renaissance of English drama...
.
Plot
The play opens with the recruiter, Captain Plume's Sergeant Kite, recruiting in the town of Shrewsbury. Plume arrives, in love with Sylvia, closely followed by Worthy, a local gentleman who is in love with Sylvia's cousin Melinda. Melinda was about to marry Worthy a year previously but then changed her mind after coming into an inheritance of £20,000 and is now welcoming the attentions of another recruiter, Captain Brazen. Melinda and Sylvia argue and part and Sylvia leaves her father's house to mourn her brother Owen's death, telling her father she is going to the Welsh countryside but in fact going into Shrewsbury dressed as a man, under the name Jack Wilful, where Brazen and Plume compete to recruit her. Kite abducts her for Plume and she goes on to spend the night in bed as Wilful with Rose, a local wench previously courted by Plume to get Rose's brother Bullock to join up. An action is brought against 'Wilful' for ravishing Rose and 'he' finds 'himself' on trial before Sylvia's father Balance and his fellow magistrates, who also look into Kite's dubious recruiting practices but finally acquit him and force Wilful to swear to the Articles of WarArticles of War
The Articles of War are a set of regulations drawn up to govern the conduct of a country's military and naval forces. The phrase was first used in 1637 in Robert Monro's His expedition with the worthy Scots regiment called Mac-keyes regiment etc. and can be used to refer to military law in general...
.
Meanwhile Melinda continues to encourage Brazen, until going to a fortune teller (in fact Kite in disguise), where she is convinced to relent to Worthy's courtship. She is also tricked by being given a sample of her handwriting by the 'fortune teller', who takes it from a 'devil' he has conjured up under the table (in fact Plume). The fortune teller is then visited by Brazen, who leaves a love letter from (as he thinks) Melinda with Kite. However, by comparing the handwriting sample, Worthy discovers that the letter is in fact from Melinda's maid Lucy, who hopes to ensnare Brazen as a husband. Worthy then goes to visit Melinda but, on going to tell Plume the good news, finds out that Melinda seems to be eloping with Brazen after all. Worthy intercepts Brazen and the disguised Lucy and challenges Brazen to a duel, but Lucy drops her disguise and the duel is prevented. Plume agrees to leave the army and marry Sylvia, Melinda relents towards Worthy, and Plume transfers his twenty recruits to Brazen to compensate him for the loss of a rich marriage with Melinda.
Production history
The Recruiting Officer was the first play to be staged in the Colony of New South Wales, which is now AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, by the convicts of the First Fleet
First Fleet
The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts , to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain ...
in 1789 under the governance of Captain Arthur Phillip RN (also Commodore of the First Fleet
First Fleet
The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts , to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain ...
)., as well as the first performance of the original Dock Street Theatre in Historic downtown Charleston, SC in 1736.
There have been two television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
adaptations of the play, one in 1965 for Australian television, and one Play of the Month
Play of the Month
Play of the Month is a BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays which were usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles...
in 1973, the latter starring Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
as Plume, Prunella Ransome
Prunella Ransome
Prunella Ransome was an English actress, primarily active on television and films.Born in Croydon, Surrey, Ransome is best known for her roles in films such as Far from the Madding Crowd , opposite Terence Stamp, for which she earned a Golden Globe Award nomination for playing the part of the maid...
as his sweetheart Silvia, Jane Asher
Jane Asher
Jane Asher is an English actress. She has also developed a second career as a cake decorator and cake shop proprietor.-Early life:...
as Melinda, John Moffatt
John Moffatt (actor)
John Moffatt is an English actor and playwright, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Hercule Poirot on BBC Radio....
as Brazen, and Brian Blessed
Brian Blessed
Brian Blessed is an English actor, known for his sonorous voice and "hearty, king-sized portrayals".-Early life:The son of William Blessed, a socialist miner, and Hilda Wall, Blessed was born in the town of Goldthorpe, West Riding of Yorkshire, England...
as Sergeant Kite.
Influences
The German dramatist Bertolt BrechtBertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
adapted The Recruiting Officer as Trumpets and Drums in 1955. Thomas Keneally
Thomas Keneally
Thomas Michael Keneally, AO is an Australian novelist, playwright and author of non-fiction. He is best known for writing Schindler's Ark, the Booker Prize-winning novel of 1982 which was inspired by the efforts of Poldek Pfefferberg, a Holocaust survivor...
wrote a novel, The Playmaker, based on the staging of this play by the First Fleet. That novel was adapted into a play, Our Country's Good
Our Country's Good
Our Country's Good is a 1988 play written by British playwright, Timberlake Wertenbaker, adapted from the Thomas Keneally novel The Playmaker. The story concerns a group of Royal Marines and convicts in a penal colony in New South Wales, in the 1780s, who put on a production of The Recruiting...
, in 1988, by Timberlake Wertenbaker
Timberlake Wertenbaker
- Biography :Wertenbaker grew up in the Basque Country of France near Saint-Jean-de-Luz. She attended schools in Europe and the US before settling permanently in London...
. Both works deal with the nature and merits of punishment, rehabilitation and theatre.