The Voice of the Turtle: A Comedy in Three Acts

by John van Druten

Although the plot is contrived with the artful ingenuity, which is to be expected in any van Druten play, the interest here centers largely upon a most attractive and charming young man and an equally attractive young woman who, by gradual stages, fall in love with each other.

The Voice of the Turtle was first presented by Alfred de Liagre, Jr., at the Shubert Theatre, New Haven, Connecticut, on November 4, 1943, and at the Morosco Theatre, New York City, on December 8, 1943.

Genres: Plays, Drama

160 pages, Hardcover

First published December 8, 1943

About the author

John William Van Druten was an English playwright and theatre director. He began his career in London, and later moved to America, becoming a U.S. citizen. He was known for his plays of witty and urbane observations of contemporary life and society.

Reviews

[Jon Zelazny · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I never knew men could be such bitches" probably elicited all sorts of gasps and pearl-clutching back in 1943. The awful title aside, the rest is very much an American BRIEF ENCOUNTER: two nice, ordinary people finding love in a chance meeting. Hopelessly dated, yet forever true.

[Steve · Rating 1 out of 5]

More of a 1.5 star play but they had the gall to call this a 'comedy' and yet, there was not a single pie-in-the-face gag.

The problem with plays with titles like 'The Iceman Cometh' and 'The Voice of the Turtle' is that I expect crazy-ass shit and settings and I am always disappointed.

There are no turtles in this 1943 show and the only voice we hear are from three static characters: Sally, Olive and Bill. The Voice of the Turtle is interesting because it broke new ground in 1943 because Sally is a goddamn slut for sleeping with TWO PEOPLE. These characters are in sexual relationships and talk about intimacy problems! I mean, yeah, that's pretty shocking for 1943 but just because a play is new for the time period doesn't make it automatically good.

The giant issue is that Sally and Bill do a whole lot of talking and we really don't feel them grow as characters. They exchange pleasantries and share their interests and Bill is a nice young man and Sally is a nice young girl but ironically, the time they're growing is between scenes when they are outside the one-set apartment and out to dinner or to the theatre. The play finally has a shake-up in Act III when Olive comes trouncing in and acts like a jerk and we are finally treated to some stakes and conflict!

But the rest? Forgettable and dry.

[Sketchbook · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first of its kind on the Broadway stage, opening 1943 : the always "romantic" heroine Sally, age 23-25, has had 2 affairs before the curtain rises and has a 3d during the weekend of the play's action. Best chumette Olive sleeps around. And the soldier Bill - well, he's just a nice, lonely guy who likes sex and he may even be sincere. Any wonder that it ran 4 years on Bwy? It intrigued Americans who preferred into the 60s, nonetheless, Doris Day-Rock Hudson romcoms where the heroine remains chaste. O, Puritania !

It's a sophisticated change fr boy meets & probably marries girl. The wartime setting is long gone, but the key is how Sally behaves: even in Restoration comedy the heroine kept her Virtue. John Van Druten changed all that with humorous understanding, sweetness and wit. He only uses 3 characters to pull off this remarkable achievement.

"There has never been a more completely immoral play on the American stage," swooned critic George Jean Nathan who championed its worldliness. "It makes relations between men and women charming and highly desirable, to be indulged in by all and sundry."

[Martin Denton · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Voice of the Turtle is very much of its time, which is the World War II era. Set in an apartment on New York City's Upper East Side in April, 1943, the play chronicles a weekend in the life of Sally Middleton, a 22-year-old aspiring actress originally from Joplin, Missouri. Her older, more experienced friend Olive Lashbrooke arrives with the news that she will be entertaining a soldier named Bill Page this weekend. But Olive suddenly gets what she thinks is a better offer, and so when Bill shows up to pick her up for their date, she ditches him. Left alone with Sally, Bill decides to ask her to dinner. He winds up staying overnight (thanks to the hotel room shortage); and as the weekend progresses, he and Sally's relationship evolves into something like love.

It's a lovely play, filled with witty, literate dialogue and infused with a bittersweet sentimentality. Bill is about to head off to the War, after all; who knows if he and Sally will ever see each other again? The plot is almost entirely about sex--will they or won't they?--but the conversation almost never is: Bill quotes Milton, Shakespeare and the Bible as he and Sally chats interestingly and wide-rangingly about movies, acting, family, and random trivia. The arc of the play traces Sally's confusion about how a "good girl" is supposed to behave in a time when war has altered all of the old expectations and rules.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming romantic comic play which was daring for its time for intimating that single girls might have premarital sex.

[Al Duran]

Theatrical play with only three roles, two of which are filled by actresses.

[Bartell D’Arcy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yep

[Kristi · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Voice of the Turtle is a comedic Broadway play by John William Van Druten dealing with the challenges of the single life in New York City during World War II. Controversial in its time, The Voice of the Turtle explores the sexual struggles of Sally Middleton, a young woman attempting to reconcile her childhood teachings on the importance of chastity with her newfound affection for Bill Page. The play derives its name from a verse in the Song of Solomon in the Bible, which reads "The voice of the turtle [as in turtle dove] is heard in our land." On December 8, 1943, the show opened at the Morosco Theatre and ran for 1,557 performances, making it the 51st longest-running show and the 9th longest-running play in Broadway history. Unfortunately, perhaps because of being written 75 years ago, I found it to be a bit of romantic fluff. Kristi & Abby Tabby

[Nicolas · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was something likable about this small cast play, but unfortunately it never really takes off. The dialogue is a little clunky in places and the end happens so fast that it catches you of completely off guard. Also, I think it's a mistake to bill it as a comedy. While it may not be high drama, it certainly wasn't funny. It had its moments, but overall it wasn't great.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unabashedly romantic, and like all John van Druten plays, quietly subversive with its delightfully unmaidenly heroine. This feels a lot like a predecessor to 80's and 90's romcoms from the likes of Nora Ephron, but this play has fifty years on those. A sweet little play; the film version deserved Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan, not Ronald Reagan.

[Steven · Rating 2 out of 5]

Simple comedy and love story between a soldier and romantic girl.