Newport Playgoers’ next production, For Services Rendered, lays bare the horror, futility and misery of the First World War.

Somerset Maugham’s penultimate play, with its strong anti-war message, is set in the economic slump of the1930s and deals with the after-effects of the First World War on the middle class Ardsley family.

Only son Sydney was blinded in the trenches and now spends his days playing chess cared for by his unmarried sister Eva, who lost her fiancé in the war. His other sister, Ethel, is living with the consequences of an impulsive wartime marriage to a caddish farmer and the youngest sister, Lois, plots her escape from the stifling family home, even though she risks creating a scandal.

The play is permeated with an air of anger about the men who gave so much for their country being left to sink once the war was over.

 ‘For Services Rendered’ is at the Dolman Theatre from 12  –15 November at 7.15 pm, with a matinee performance on Saturday at 2.30 pm. To book tickets call 01633 263670 or visit www.dolmantheatre.co.uk.

 

Photo Credit: Phil Mansell