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Rada : A Belgian Christmas Eve
Rada : A Belgian Christmas Eve
The action takes place in a Belgian village, during the War of 1914. The scene is a room in the doctor’s house. On the right there is a door opening to the street, a window with red curtains, and a desk under the window. On the left there is a large cupboard with a door on either side of it, one leading to a bedroom and the other to the kitchen. At the back an open fire is burning brightly. Over the fireplace there is a reproduction in colours of the Dresden[Pg 10] Madonna. The room is lit only by the firelight and two candles in brass candlesticks, on a black oak table, at which the two soldiers are seated, playing cards and drinking beer.
Rada, a dark handsome woman, sits on a couch to the left of the fire, with her head bowed in her hands, weeping.
The action takes place in a Belgian village, during the War of 1914. The scene is a room in the doctor’s house. On the right there is a door opening to the street, a window with red curtains, and a desk under the window. On the left there is a large cupboard with a door on either side of it, one leading to a bedroom and the other to the kitchen. At the back an open fire is burning brightly. Over the fireplace there is a reproduction in colours of the Dresden[Pg 10] Madonna. The room is lit only by the firelight and two candles in brass candlesticks, on a black oak table, at which the two soldiers are seated, playing cards and drinking beer.
Rada, a dark handsome woman, sits on a couch to the left of the fire, with her head bowed in her hands, weeping.
46 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2008
5 people want to read
About the author
Alfred Noyes
498 books58 followersAlfred Noyes was the son of Alfred and Amelia Adams Noyes. His father was a teacher and taught Latin and Greek and in Aberystwyth, Wales. In 1898, Alfred attended Exeter College in Oxford. Though he failed to earn a degree, the young poet published his first collection of poetry, The Loom of Years, in 1902.
Between 1903 and 1908, Noyes published five volumes of poetry including The Forest of Wild Thyme (1905) and The Flower of Old Japan and Other Poems (1907). His books were widely reviewed and were published both in Britain and the United States. Among his best-known poems from this time are The Highwayman and Drake. Drake, which appeared serially in Blackwood's Magazine, was a two-hundred page epic about life at sea.
Noyes married Garnett Daniels in 1907, and they had three children. His increasing popularity allowed the family to live off royalty cheques. In 1914, Noyes accepted a teaching position at Princeton University, where he taught English Literature until 1923. He was a noted critic of modernist writers, particularly James Joyce. Likewise, his work at this time was criticized by some for its refusal to embrace the modernist movement.
For more information, please see http://www.answers.com/topic/alfred-n...
Between 1903 and 1908, Noyes published five volumes of poetry including The Forest of Wild Thyme (1905) and The Flower of Old Japan and Other Poems (1907). His books were widely reviewed and were published both in Britain and the United States. Among his best-known poems from this time are The Highwayman and Drake. Drake, which appeared serially in Blackwood's Magazine, was a two-hundred page epic about life at sea.
Noyes married Garnett Daniels in 1907, and they had three children. His increasing popularity allowed the family to live off royalty cheques. In 1914, Noyes accepted a teaching position at Princeton University, where he taught English Literature until 1923. He was a noted critic of modernist writers, particularly James Joyce. Likewise, his work at this time was criticized by some for its refusal to embrace the modernist movement.
For more information, please see http://www.answers.com/topic/alfred-n...
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 27, 2020
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3560564.html
Written and set in occupied Belgium in 1915, it's a straight cut and paste from the author's Rada, which was set during the Balkan war of 1913, to the extent that the central character keeps her own name and the others generally sound more Balkan than Belgian. Rada is the unwilling hostess of two German soldiers, fresh from visiting atrocity on her village; it all ends badly. The German soldiers are improbably interested in Schopenhauer and high culture. Meanwhile the old man who lives with Rada is convinced that it is Christmas every day. There is also some tedious poetry. The whole thing is dreadfully earnest and utterly predictable.
Written and set in occupied Belgium in 1915, it's a straight cut and paste from the author's Rada, which was set during the Balkan war of 1913, to the extent that the central character keeps her own name and the others generally sound more Balkan than Belgian. Rada is the unwilling hostess of two German soldiers, fresh from visiting atrocity on her village; it all ends badly. The German soldiers are improbably interested in Schopenhauer and high culture. Meanwhile the old man who lives with Rada is convinced that it is Christmas every day. There is also some tedious poetry. The whole thing is dreadfully earnest and utterly predictable.
May 29, 2021
Read on Project Gutenberg
I think I'd really like to see this live, it has the potential to be truly devastating. On paper, it's a bit too quick to have the same effect.
Don't really understand why it's set in the Balkans, though (I know he later re-framed it as a "Belgian" story), the names are the only thing seemingly "Balkan". I think it's probably because the play was written during the Balkan Wars, and is therefore supposedly referencing current events.
I think I'd really like to see this live, it has the potential to be truly devastating. On paper, it's a bit too quick to have the same effect.
Don't really understand why it's set in the Balkans, though (I know he later re-framed it as a "Belgian" story), the names are the only thing seemingly "Balkan". I think it's probably because the play was written during the Balkan Wars, and is therefore supposedly referencing current events.
maybe
March 6, 2014
A Belgian Christmas Eve
CHARACTERS
Rada, wife of the village doctor.
Bettine, her daughter, aged twelve.
Brander
Tarrasch
German soldiers quartered in her
house during the occupation
of the village.
Nanko, an old, half-witted schoolmaster, living in the care of the doctor. He has a delusion that it is always Christmas Eve.
German soldiers.
The action takes place in a Belgian village, during the War of 1914. The scene is a room in the doctor’s house. On the right there is a door opening to the street, a window with red curtains, and a desk under the window. On the left there is a large cupboard with a door on either side of it, one leading to a bedroom and the other to the kitchen. At the back an open fire is burning brightly. Over the fireplace there is a reproduction in colours of the Dresden Madonna. The room is lit only by the firelight and two candles in brass candlesticks, on a black oak table, at which the two soldiers are seated, playing cards and drinking beer.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews