Essay on THE SHERIFF”S KITCHEN by RONALD GOW

THE SHERIFF”S KITCHEN

RONALD GOW

          Ronald Gow an English Dramatist was Born on November 1, 1897 in Heaton Moor, Stockport, Cheshire, the son of a bank manager, Gow attended Altrincham County High School. After training as a chemist, he returned to his old school as a teacher. In the late 1920s he made several educational silentfilms with his pupils: The People of the Axe (1926) and The People of the Lake (1928) recreated life in ancient Britain, the latter produced 'with the approval of' Sir William Boyd Dawkins; The Man Who Changed His Mind (1928). Writing occupied his spare time during his years as a schoolmaster, and he wrote several plays for the BBC. At the age of 35 he had his first professional production, in London, with Gallow's Glorious (1933), a play about the American slavery abolitionist John Brown. In 1934 he wrote” Love on the Dole”, based on Walter Greenwood's novel about unemployment in Salford during the Great Depression – the play was a huge success. Wendy Hiller played the lead in the play, and also made her first film appearance in the Gow-scripted” Lancashire Luck”. Later ,Hiller and Gow got married.

The  play starts  at Nottingham castle .The cook  prepares the food for sheriff and waits for him. He tastes all the  food prepared  by him  and feels proud about  his cooking, He then arranges all the dishes on the table. The steward enters to the hall and comes near the table  with a lantern. He feels so cold   he swings his arm  Smells the food on the table. Cook asks steward about masters arrival. Steward replies that sheriff   would be late for his dinner. Cook gets angry at sheriff and  he informs steward that he cannot wait for sheriff for long hours. Its past three hours the dinner time and all the pies are getting dried up. It is better  he appoints another cook. Steward says that it would be better when you say it to him. Steward asks cook for a pie as he was hungry. Cook does not give any food to steward being held irresponsible for  sheriffs punctuality. Steward says that he manages everything well in the castle and he is a responsible person in the castle. They   both keep arguing . Steward tells that his cooking is no better than pigswill.       A messanger enters the castle  and tells that sheriff  worships the guest of the prior of Emmet and he  is having his food and drinks with them tonight.Your master is eating for twelve months. He does not require your food.The cook was angry and worried. Steward comes to know that if sheriff will not turn to castle   he wont get his dinner .So he goes up to the cook and  says I spoke everything in jest and your dinner is the best. We need to have the dinner we cannot waste food.The cook in an angry tone replied don’t touch the pies you have insulted my cooking. Steward  held up a key on his side and tells that this is the of the cellar where there is plenty of ale. Bring two jugs we would share the ale and have our dinner. Cook half minded agreed to it .They went on to the cellar. Meanwhile  Little john and Friar Truck smells food and enters the castle they found delicious food spread on the table. When they began to eat they heard the cook entering. So,both  hid under the table.     Steward gives ale to the cook and he in return asked steward to taste the  roasted fowl,beef , eggs and pie.

A messenger comes in and informs that sheriff  has returned to the castle and a good news for everyone is that Robin hood is captured. The cook leaves to the kitchen .Sheriff calls steward and ask him to put robin hood  in the prisoner’s cell. He  would die at sunrise.Let the flag  fly from the castle top and  the trumpets blow and greet the  rising sun. The sentry guard was at the door step. Sheriff discuss the proud moment of his life with steward and goes away.

          Little john, goes near the door and comes back wearing sentry’s steel cap ,leather coat and carries the halberd. He calls steward for accompanying him for ale  and pies. They start enjoying their dinner and little john asks steward to lose his belts and have good amount of ale and pie. friar who was still under the table took the jug of ale from steward and drank. Steward shouted that there is devil it drank my ale. little john  tells him that he is tired for the day and need to take bed. The key wass dropped on the table. Little john opened up the cell and brings Robin Hood out. When steward comes out of his bed and starts shouting that he had seen a devil ,sheriff  enters .Sheriff  is taken  by little john he  puts sheriff in the cell and locks him. Sheriff knocks the room continuously. The cook comes near the table and shows steward that, there is no devil here and your key are also on the table. Steward and cook  could not find anybody in the castle other than them. They both went near the prison cell and started staggering over the door. Sheriff knocks the room continuously. Through the keyhole sheriff says robinhood has escaped! open the door  and “tis me Sheriff”!.The stewards jaw drops and his  eyes blink. 

Essay The Anniversary -Anton Chekhov

The Anniversary

Anton Chekhov

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was born in the small seaport of Taganrog, southern Russia, born 29^th January 1904, the son of a grocer. Chekhov a Physician, dramaturge and author is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics. Chekhov's first novel, Nenunzhaya pobeda (1882), was a success, and gradually he became a full-time writer. ‘The Shooting Party’, ‘The seagull’, ‘The cherry orchard’ are some of his  works.

The Anniversary by Anton Chekov   is a hilarious play about a banker who is  preparing to meet some respected shareholders for the bank’s 15^th anniversary celebrations The play revolves around four principle character.

Mr Andrei Shipuchin – A diligent and hardworking banker who also has a soft corner for women.

Mr.Kirin –Book keeper-The brilliant but short tempered accountant on whom the banker totally depend for preparing an impressive report for the bank.

Ms Tatiana -The banker’s wife- A naive and rather innocent women who is also a chatterbox. She is very young and views life adventurously.

Mrs Merchutkina-The mad women- An old woman who is also a constant pest. She is neither susceptible to logic nor reasoning. Her persistent annoyance and outright lack of sympathy for the banker forms the central theme of the play.

The Act begins with the accountant busy preparing the financial report using the Abacus. He is already worn out  due to  days of continuous work. He tries to put long hours since the banker has promised him a golden watch if the meeting with the shareholders go well. While the accountant is busy with the  calculations the banker walks in along with his customers who wish him good luck for the meeting. The accountant who has been watching all these is not convinced at all. The fact that the banker will corner all the glory of his accounts hard work does not go down well with him. However he continues his work for the watch.

Mrs Tatiana comes to the bank as she has just arrived from her home town after meeting her sister and mother. Instead of going home she has arrived at her husband’s bank. Her husband is surprised   by her visit and spends time with her on a casual talk so as to make her feel good. But he is worried if he was preparing enough for the meeting later in the day. Tatiana continuously kept chattering about her train journey and her sister’s date .However at the end of the room the accountant was growing very impatient and Mrs Tatiana ‘s irrelevant narrations were getting on to his nerves preventing him from focusing on the abacus.

In the midst of all this, suddenly an old woman barged into the bank. She seemed highly agitated and rushed to Mr. Banker’s seat. The banker wondered if this was an aggrieved customer. Only to realise later that she was Mrs. Merchutkina who had come in to ruin his day. Merchutkina wanted the bank to pay her husband’s complete wage of twenty four roubles and thirty six kopecks which she claimed had been wrongly deducted. However Mrs Merchutkina husband never worked with the bank and the bank never had anything to do with the payment of his wages. The banker tried in vain to explain her, but she simply does not comprehend his logic. Instead she continues to demand her twenty four roubles and thirty six  kopecks and that she is a ‘weak and defenceless woman’.

The banker is also  helped by his wife who demands Mrs.Merchutkina to leave the bank immediately. But the woman refuses and is persistent on her demands.

Finally at the end of his wits the accountant who has been silent victim all this while threatens to get her thrown out of the bank if she did not leave by herself. Even this threat did not deter her from demanding her husband’s rightful share of wages.

Realising that there was no way out now, the banker finally hands over twenty four roubles and thirty six kopecks to her which she gleefully accepts and momentarily there is a pause in the commotion. Meanwhile Tataina continues her woeful story to the banker who by now is already drained of his energies. Just  when things were beginning to return to peace again, Mrs.Merchutkina reaches out to the banker and asks “Could my husband have his job back, your Excellency?”

This banker upon reaching the end of his patience orders the accountant to throw her out from the bank. But the accountant mistakes Tatiana to be the cause of the banker’s anger and orders her out instead. In the ensuing confusion, the accountant ends up chasing the mad woman and Tatiana around the bank when the group of Shareholders walk in.

Amidst all this commotion, the shareholders are unmoved and heap praise on Mr Banker on how he had raised the bank to higher reputation. However they stopped their praise midway and announce that they would come back some other day considering that there was hectic activity at the bank at present.