OVERVIEW

• Playwright

  George Bernard (GB) Shaw 

• Setting

  Summer 1915, outside Sir Pearce Madigan's Country House, Ireland.

• Synopsis

  Having been awarded the Victoria Cross for his heroics in Flanders, Private O'Flaherty returns home to Ireland to take part in recruitment campaign. He has neglected to tell his mother, a fervent Fenian, that he is fighting for the British Crown. His sweetheart, meanwhile, is determined that her man secure her a substantial war pension, irrespective of the dangers involved.

• Play Type

  Plays General
  

  Number Of Acts

  One Act

Cast size

• Male

  2

• Female

  2

• Total

  4

Original Production

• Date of First Production

  21 June 1920

• Production Notes

  First produced by the Deborah Bierne Irish Players.

• Venue Notes

  First presented at the 39th Street Theatre, New York.

• Irish Premiere Notes

  'O'Flaherty V.C' was originally written for the Abbey Theatre and was announced for production there in November 1915. It was quickly withdrawn because of circumstances surrounding the war and the threat of audiences rioting.

Source Of Information

The information for this entry was taken from The Bodley Head Bernard Shaw (Volume 4). Additional information was taken from C.L. & V.M. Broad's 'Dictionary of the Plays and Novels of Bernard Shaw' and from the New York Times Online Archive.