Second Plays — Themes and Context

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In Category - Science Fiction Utopias

Authors: Milne, A. A. (Alan Alexander), 1882-1956 Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2005 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: English drama -- 20th century Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 70,584

Reading time 307 min

Text sections 8

Second Plays — Themes and Context can be approached with a clearer sense of reading commitment from its source measurements: 70,584 words, 5 hr 7 min estimated reading time, and 8 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 9.7 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “English drama -- 20th century,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #14734

A.A. Milne's collection of five plays, including the comedy 'Mr. Pim Passes By,' showcases his early 20th-century dramatic voice through witty dialogue and domestic situations, with an introduction that playfully critiques dramatic critics.

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File: pg14734

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Strindberg said in '93 (if he were alive then; I really don't know) or what Aristotle wrote in--no, I shan't even guess at Aristotle, well, then, I want to burst into tears, my ignorance is so profound. So, very humbly, I just say now that, when Melisande talks and behaves in a certain way, I do not mean that a particular girl exists (Miss Jones, of 999 Bedford Park) who talks and behaves like this, but I do mean that there is a type of girl who, in her heart, secretly, _thinks_ like this. If, from your great knowledge of the most secret places of a young girl's heart, you tell me that there is no such type, then I shall only smile. But if you inform me sternly that a dramatist has no business to express an attitude in terms of an actress, then you reduce me to blushes again. For I really know nothing about play-writing, and I am only sustained by two beliefs. The first is that rules are always made for the other people; the second is that, if a play by me is not obviously by me, and as obviously not by anybody else, then (obviously) I had no business to write it.

Of the one-act plays, _The Camberley Triangle_ and _The Stepmother_, nothing much need be said. The former was played at the Coliseum; the latter, written for Miss Winifred Emery, was deemed by the management too serious for that place of amusement. This, however, was to the great advantage of the play, for now it has appeared only at Charity _matinées_ with an "all-star" cast.

As before, the plays are printed in the order in which they were written; in this case between October 1918 and June 1920. May the reader get as much enjoyment from them as I had in their writing. But no; that is plainly impossible.

A CHILDREN'S PLAY IN A PROLOGUE AND THREE ACTS

_Make-Believe_ was first produced at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, on December 24, 1918. The chief parts were played by Marjory Holman, Jean Cadell, Rosa Lynd, Betty Chester, Roy Lennol, John Barclay, Kinsey Peile, Stanley Drewitt, Ivan Berlyn, and Herbert Marshall--several parts each.

The playroom of the HUBBARD FAMILY--nine of them. Counting MR. and MRS. HUBBARD, we realize that there are eleven HUBBARDS in all, and you would think that one at least of the two people we see in the room would be a HUBBARD of sorts. But no. The tall manly figure is JAMES, the HUBBARDS' butler, for the HUBBARDS are able to afford a butler now. How different from the time when Old Mother Hubbard--called "old" because she was at least twenty-two, and "mother" because she had a passion for children--could not even find a bone for her faithful terrier; but, of course, that was before HENRY went into work. Well, the tall figure is JAMES, the butler, and the little one is ROSEMARY, a friend of the HUBBARD FAMILY. ROSEMARY is going in for literature this afternoon, as it's raining, and JAMES is making her quite comfortable first with pens and ink and blotting-paper--always so important when one wants to write. He has even thought of a stick of violet sealing-wax; after that there can be no excuse.

ROSEMARY. Thank you, James. (She sits down.) If any one calls I am not at home.

ROSEMARY. You may add that I am engaged in writing my auto--autobiography.

ROSEMARY. It's what every one writes, isn't it, James?

JAMES. I believe so, Miss.

ROSEMARY. Thank you. (He goes to the door.) Oh, James?

ROSEMARY. What _is_ an autobiography?

JAMES. Well, I couldn't rightly say, Miss--not to explain it properly.

ROSEMARY (dismayed). Oh, James! . . . I thought you knew everything.

JAMES. In the ordinary way, yes, Miss, but every now and then----

ROSEMARY. It's very upsetting.

JAMES. Yes, Miss. . . . How would it be to write a play instead? Very easy work, they tell me.

ROSEMARY (nodding). Yes, that's much better. I'll write a play. Thank you, James.

JAMES. Not at all, Miss. [He goes out.

(ROSEMARY bites her pen, and thinks deeply. At last the inspiration comes.)

ROSEMARY (as she writes). Make-Believe. M-a-k-e hyphen B-e-l---- (she stops and frowns) Now which way _is_ it? (She tries it on the blotting-paper) _That_ looks wrong. (She tries it again) So does that. Oh, dear! (She rings the bell . . . JAMES returns.)

ROSEMARY. James, I have decided to call my play Make-Believe.

ROSEMARY (carelessly). When you spell "believe," it is "i-e," isn't it?

ROSEMARY. I thought at first it was "e-i."

JAMES. Now you mention it, I think it is, Miss.

ROSEMARY (reproachfully). Oh, James! Aren't you certain?

JAMES. M-a-k-e, make, B-e-l---- (He stops and scratches his whiskers.)

ROSEMARY. Yes. _I_ got as far as that.

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A.A. Milne opens this collection with a self-deprecating introduction, recounting a conversation with an eminent dramatist about the neglect of unproduced plays by critics. He wryly notes that while managers are blamed for rejecting risky works, critics themselves won't spend six shillings to read them. This framing sets a tone of light irony that carries into the plays, where domestic tensions are resolved through clever talk rather than action.

The five plays—'Make-Believe,' 'Mr. Pim Passes By,' 'The Camberley Triangle,' 'The Romantic Age,' and 'The Stepmother'—were published after Milne's 'First Plays' and share a focus on drawing-room dilemmas. The excerpts from 'Mr. Pim Passes By' reveal a comedy of errors around a mistaken identity, with characters like Olivia and Brian navigating second-marriage anxieties through polite, evasive dialogue.

The Introduction as a Dramatic Gambit

Milne's introduction is not a conventional preface but a performance. He admits he is trying to make it 'distasteful' so the plays seem better by contrast, and he immediately attacks dramatic critics for not reading unproduced works. The anecdote with the 'Eminent Dramatist' is written as a script, complete with stage directions like '(kindly)' and '(amused by my innocence)'. This blurs the line between preface and play, suggesting Milne sees criticism itself as a theatrical exchange. He calculates that a critic might now say, 'Mr. Milne has certainly improved as a dramatist, in that his plays are now slightly better than his Introduction.' The humor depends on readers recognizing the absurdity of critics who demand risk from managers but take none themselves.

Dialogue as a Battle of Indirection

In the excerpt from 'Mr. Pim Passes By,' characters rarely say what they mean. Olivia and Brian discuss second marriages with deliberate vagueness: 'I suppose there's nothing wrong in getting married to the same person twice?' Brian deflects with a comparison to French civil and church ceremonies. Later, George and Olivia exchange remarks about Brian's painting—'Good-looking fellow, Strange'—while George fidgets and Olivia feigns absorption in her curtains. The stage directions emphasize pauses and casual tones that mask jealousy and uncertainty. Milne's dialogue works through implication: a question about scissors or curtains carries subtext about trust and territory. This technique, visible in the excerpt, suggests the plays reward attention to what is left unsaid.

Cataloging Milne Outside His Known Genres

Project Gutenberg classifies 'Second Plays' under 'Science Fiction & Utopias,' yet the excerpts contain no futuristic or speculative elements. The plays are domestic comedies set in contemporary drawing rooms, with no hint of science fiction. The catalog subject 'English drama -- 20th century' is accurate, but the primary category appears to be a misattribution. This mismatch highlights how digital libraries sometimes apply broad genre labels that do not reflect actual content. Readers expecting utopian themes will find instead a world of marriage plots, artistic ambition, and polite social maneuvering. The error serves as a reminder to verify catalog metadata against the text itself, especially for works by authors like Milne, who is better known for 'Winnie-the-Pooh' but wrote extensively for the stage.

Readers approaching 'Second Plays' should set aside any expectations of science fiction and instead attend to the craftsmanship of Milne's dialogue. The introduction offers a key to his method: he treats even his own preface as a dramatic scene. Each play rewards attention to the rhythm of conversation and the strategic use of silence. For those interested in early 20th-century British theatre, this collection provides a clear example of how comedy can emerge from the tension between what characters say and what they mean.

There’s a particular charm in watching Milne craft his gentle domestic chaos, the way he lets wit soften life’s awkward edges. It reminds me of another old friend, Shakespeare as a Dramatic Artist A Popular Illustration of the Principles of Scientific Criticism — Themes and Context, which lingers on similar quiet questions about how plays truly work. Both feel like conversations I wish I’d been part of, back when.