Arms and the Man

16th - 20th February, 2016

The play takes place during the 1885 Serbo-Bulgarin War. Its heroine, Raina Petkoff, is a young Bulgarian woman engaged to Sergius Saranoff, one of the heroes of that war, whom she idolizes. One night, a Swiss soldier Capt Bluntschli, on the run, climbs in through her bedroom balcony window and threatens to shoot Raina if she gives the alarm. When Russian/Bulgarian troops burst in to search the house for him, Raina hides him so that he won't be killed. In a conversation after the soldiers have left, Bluntschli's attitude towards war and soldiering shocks her, especially after he admits that he uses his ammunition pouches to carry chocolates rather than cartridges for his pistol. When the search dies down, Raina and her mother Catherine sneak Bluntschli out of the house, disguised in an old housecoat. The war ends with the Bulgarians and Serbians signing a peace treaty and Sergius returns to Raina, but also flirts with her insolent servant girl Louka. When the 'Chocolate cream soldier' reappears after the war, the consequences for Raina and her family are unexpected and amusing.