Reviews for The Harvest Festival: A Play in Three Acts

The average rating for The Harvest Festival: A Play in Three Acts based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-01-26 00:00:00 Tim Binion First published in Three Plays for Puritans (1901), this attractive but somewhat forgettable play by George Bernard Shaw, set in Morocco, tells the story of the half-British/ half-Brazilian Captain Brassbound, smuggler and skipper of The Thanksgiving. He seeks revenge against his uncle the judge Sir Henry Hallam, who has dishonored his Brazilian mother and deprived him of his rightful inheritance, by delivering him into the hands of a local sheikh as a Christian, and therefore (according to Islamic law) rightfully a slave. The judge's sister-in law, Lady Cicely Waynflete, a charming and fearless world traveler, convinces Brassbound he should desist from his revenge, arguing that his fierce justice is as flawed as the British legal system that led to his own disinheritance. Brassbound relents, for he has fallen in love with her. But soon the sheikh arrives, and things get complicated. The character of Lady Cicely'based on Shaw's friend the actress Ellen Terry'is the best thing about the play. Although she is naive, always seeing the best in people (even the sheikh who intends to seize her as his "wife"), she is also aware of her own charm and makes full use of it on every occasion, taking charge of everything'and everybody'with a completely natural air of command. Her defense of Brassbound before a United States navy tribunal is the heart of the play: LADY CICELY. The Sheikh. Sidi el Assif. A noble creature, with such a fine face! He fell in love with me at first sight-- SIR HOWARD (remonstrating). Cicely! LADY CICELY. He did: you know he did. You told me to tell the exact truth. CAPTAIN KEARNEY. I can readily believe it, madam. Proceed. LADY CICELY. Well, that put the poor fellow into a most cruel dilemma. You see, he could claim to carry off Sir Howard, because Sir Howard is a Christian. But as I am only a woman, he had no claim to me. CAPTAIN KEARNEY (somewhat sternly, suspecting Lady Cicely of aristocratic atheism). But you are a Christian woman. LADY CICELY. No: the Arabs don't count women. They don't believe we have any souls...Well, what was he to do? He wasn't in love with Sir Howard; and he WAS in love with me. So he naturally offered to swop Sir Howard for me. Don't you think that was nice of him, Captain Kearney? CAPTAIN KEARNEY. I should have done the same myself, Lady Waynflete. Proceed. LADY CICELY. Captain Brassbound, I must say, was nobleness itself, in spite of the quarrel between himself and Sir Howard. He refused to give up either of us, and was on the point of fighting for us when in came the Cadi with your most amusing and delightful letter, captain, and bundled us all back to Mogador...So here we are. Now, Howard, isn't that the exact truth, every word of it? SIR HOWARD. It is the truth, Cicely, and nothing but the truth. But the English law requires a witness to tell the WHOLE truth. LADY CICELY. What nonsense! As if anybody ever knew the whole truth about anything! (Sitting down, much hurt and discouraged.) I'm sorry you wish Captain Kearney to understand that I am an untruthful witness. SIR HOWARD. No: but-- LADY CICELY. Very well, then: please don't say things that convey that impression. CAPTAIN KEARNEY. But Sir Howard told me yesterday that Captain Brassbound threatened to sell him into slavery. LADY CICELY (springing up again). Did Sir Howard tell you the things he said about Captain Brassbound's mother? (Renewed sensation.) I told you they quarrelled, Captain Kearney. I said so, didn't I? ... LADY CICELY. Of course I did. Now, Captain Kearney, do YOU want me--does Sir Howard want me--does ANYBODY want me to go into the details of that shocking family quarrel? Am I to stand here in the absence of any individual of my own sex and repeat the language of two angry men? CAPTAIN KEARNEY (rising impressively). The United States navy will have no hahnd in offering any violence to the pure instincts of womanhood. Lady Waynflete: I thahnk you for the delicacy with which you have given your evidence. (Lady Cicely beams on him gratefully and sits down triumphant.)

Review # 2 was written on 2014-08-12 00:00:00 Brian Constantine The pirate captain comes good 16 August 2014 Some have suggested that maybe that this may not be one of his best plays but I still found it quite enjoyable. It is a shame that, unlike the other two plays that appear n 'Three Plays for Puritans', this one did not make it onto the Hollywood screen, especially since he gives the play the subtitle of 'an adventure'. Sometimes I wonder if it is possible to have a play that is an adventure produced on the stage. I certainly could not imagine ever going to Her Majesty's Theatre to see a production of this: Though I have been to Her Majesty's Theatre (in Adelaide) to see a production of this: So I guess when it comes to the modern theatre scene anything is certainly possible (and the performance of The Hobbit was actually really good - oh, I have also seen The Wizard of Oz live on stage as well). Anyway, this play has everything that an adventure could have: an exotic location, a villain, a hero, and a damsel in distress. Actually, I probably cannot suggest that we have the last three things because the play does not actually turn out like the traditional adventure story. The story is about a couple of English aristocrats - a judge (Sir Howard) and his wife (Lady Cecily) - who travel to Morocco on a holiday to visit the interior. Now, I'm not going to suggest that Morocco is the safest of places to visit, but then again it is certainly not one of the most dangerous. However, as Shaw seems to indicate, in his day the interior of Morocco was certainly one place that a well respected English gentleman and his wife would unlikely be going a tour. However, they insist on it and hire the likes of a Captain Brassbound to take them there. As ends up happening in a lot of these plays, it turns out that there is a connection between Brassbound and Sir Howard (the are related), and Brassbound has a rather nasty bone to pick with him. Brassbound was supposed to inherit a property off of his brother, but that was stolen from him by some rather dubious agent in the West Indies. Also his mother was killed, which turned out to be because of an indirect action of the Sir Howard's. As such Brassbound wants revenge, and by taking them to his castle in the interior he has them where he wants them. Brassbound's character is interesting because while be portrays a rather hard exterior (he has to since he is a pirate), there is a part of him that shows compassion. This is described (if you can understand what he is saying) by one of his crew members, a certain Drinkwater. He commands the boat, but he commands it fairly. Also, we have this impression that while he may be a leader, he does not see himself as a commander. He is not power hungry, nor does he appear to be greedy. Rather, as it comes to light, it turns out that he just wants revenge, and he selects Sir Howard as the target of the revenge. It is also interesting how Shaw portrays the Moors. In those days they would have been seen as barbaric savages, and in a way Shaw portrays them as such. The further away from civilisation they go the more savage they become. As is indicated to Sir Howard that despite his high standing unless gold were to be discovered in the interior it would be highly unlikely that the British would send in troops to either rescue, or seek revenge, for his death. It was simply too dangerous, especially for Christian men. It seems that little has changed with regards to the Western opinions of Muslims because, in a way, they are still portrayed as wild, backward, and savage, and it is unfortunate that it is only the bad apples that are portrayed that way. On the otherside though many of them have the same view of us here in the West. The one thing that I did find really annoying with this play was Shaw's insistence of attempting to put dialect into the text, especially Drinkwater's. However, I suspect that if I were to see this play performed then Drinkwater would be just as difficult to understand on the stage as he is on the printed page. I guess Shaw wanted to ram the point home (and he does discuss his use of dialects at the end of the play).