Raina loves Sergius, as he is her ideal of a romantic hero on the battlefield – isn’t he? Doesn’t she?

Sergius loves Raina, as she is a noble exponent of the ‘higher love’ – isn’t she? Doesn’t he?

But what about the ‘cowardly’ but incredibly practical Swiss mercenary who climbs into her room at night to escape being killed? The stage is set for mistaken identities, surprising alliances and, of course, a happy ending.

George Bernard Shaw was the best comic dramatist of his time. In this play, subtitled ‘An Anti-Romantic Comedy’, he makes light-hearted fun of romantic ideals of both love and warfare, satirising conventions of love, military honour, and class.

Arms and the Man was Dublin-born Shaw’s second play and one of his first commercial successes written, according to George Orwell, when Shaw was at the height of his powers as a dramatist, and “… is probably the wittiest play he ever wrote, the most flawless technically, and in spite of being a very light comedy, the most telling.” It was the first Shaw play to be produced in New York (17th September 1894). A comic opera, The Chocolate Soldier, was based on Arms and the Man, and was first produced at Theater des Westens, Berlin in 1909.

PERFORMANCE DATES:

Thursday 6th August / Friday 7th August / Monday 10th August / Tuesday 11th August / Wednesday 12th August 2026

See all plays and dates here.

SEASON PASS DEAL:

Get tickets to see 5 plays for less than the price of 4 with our season pass deal. To do this, please select the date that you wish to attend each of the 5 plays (The Late Edwina Black, Communicating Doors, Arms and the Man, Dead Guilty, and Ladies’ Day) and add the corresponding ticket(s) to your basket. Once complete, proceed to check out and an automatic discount will be applied.