Arms and the Man

Arms and the Man – by George Bernard Shaw, first produced in 1894. Set during the 1885 Serbo-Bulgarian War, the play serves as a biting satire on the idealized notions of war, love, and social class. In Bulgaria, young Raina Petkoff celebrates the news of a heroic cavalry charge led by her fiancé, Sergius Saranoff. That night, a Swiss mercenary for the Serbian army, Captain Bluntschli, bursts into her bedroom to hide from Bulgarian troops. He shocks Raina by revealing he carries chocolates instead of bullets and views war as a grim business rather than a romantic adventure.