We haven’t done this for a while, but we had thought that from time to time we would mention plays set against the Great War.  The thought was that perhaps local theater groups might take an interest and dare to put on a production during the centennial.  That’s if, of course, any thespians are reading this!

What might be a bit of an overlooked play is Ross:  A Dramatic Portrait.  Written by the British playwright Terence Rattigan, Ross focuses on T.E. Lawrence in 1922 when Lawrence was hiding in the Royal Air Force under the assumed name of Ross.  From there the play looks at flashbacks of Lawrence’s life.

When it first opened in 1960, Ross starred Alec Guinness as Lawrence and won some acclaim.  But in 1962, David Lean’s epic film, Lawrence of Arabia was released, and Ross was overlooked but surfaces occasionally.  The blogger has not seen a production of the play, but he’s biased and would like to see it.

Wikipedia has a rather thorough synopsis of the play:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_(play) .

Blair Tarr is the Museum Curator of the Kansas State Historical Society. He oversees the three-dimensional collections of the Society, but has special interests in the Civil War, Wichita-made Valentine diners, and Leavenworth's Abernathy Furniture. In the last few years he has also done a lot of cramming on The Great War. He is a past president of the Kansas Museums Association and the Civil War Round Tables of both Kansas City and Eastern Kansas. He is currently a board member of the Heritage League of Greater Kansas City.