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The Prisoners of War: A Play in Three Acts
"J. R. Ackerley (1896-1967) wrote a play that incorporated some of his World War One experiences as an officer in the British army while being held as a Prisoner of War by Germany. The German and British governments reached an agreement in 1916 allowing a limited number of wounded and disabled British officers and soldiers to be transferred from German prison camps to isolated locations in neutral Switzerland. These men remained prisoners of war during their time in Switzerland and they were subject to being returned to the country that captured them. J. R. Ackerley was wounded May, 1917 and was captured by the Germans. He was sent in December, 1917 to Murren, Switzerland for part of his time as a prisoner of war where he was housed in one of the town’s nine ski resort hotels. Ackerley started writing The Prisoners of War while he was in Murren. He completed a first draft of the play while still a POW. There are a number of similarities in the details of the play that related to actual persons and incidents that Ackerley encountered during his nineteen months in the Alpine hotel prison. The Prisoners of War, a play in three acts, takes place in Captain Conrad’s sitting-room in a Hotel in Murren during the summer of 1918. The room description as well as the view out the windows at the back of the room are very detailed. Ackerley is also specific about the details of time, dates and character descriptions."
- GenresPlays
109 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1925
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About the author
J.R. Ackerley
12 books69 followersJoe Randolph "J. R." Ackerley was a British writer and editor. Starting with the BBC the year after its founding in 1927, he was promoted to literary editor of The Listener, its weekly magazine, where he served for more than two decades.
He published many emerging poets and writers who became influential in Great Britain. He was openly gay, a rarity in his time when homosexuality was forbidden by law and socially ostracized.
He published many emerging poets and writers who became influential in Great Britain. He was openly gay, a rarity in his time when homosexuality was forbidden by law and socially ostracized.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 18, 2025
The Prisoners of War by J.R. Ackerley is a play set in summer 1918. A group of British officers who've been taken prisoners of war by Germany are held at a hotel in the Swiss Alps. Here they're waiting out the war while planning ways to escape back to the front or get sent home to England.
Despite the nice accommodations, the interminable wait is hell for most of the soldiers. It's perhaps even worse in a place so beautiful and unlike a prison and it leads to deteriorating mental and physical health for the men.
The play focuses on five officers, including Conrad, a 24-year-old well-off captain, who initially seems to be doing decently well considering the circumstances. However, Grayle, a younger officer, takes advantage of Conrad's unrequited romantic affections for him and it starts a downward trajectory that feels simultaneously preventable and inevitable.
"We get a little freedom, and so we want more. It's like being allowed to look at something we love, but not to touch."
J.R. Ackerley wrote the play exactly 100 years ago, in 1925, and it's been called the first 20th century play to deal with homosexual desire. Ackerley partially based it on his own experience as a POW during WWI, with Conrad, a captain and queer man like the author, being the character most resembling himself.
The Prisoners of War was put on stage in 1925 and was well-received which honestly came as a bit of a surprise to me when I found out. The play would quite clearly read as queer for most readers today though that likely wasn't the case a century ago which might've been Ackerley's intention. When the stage owner belatedly became aware of the queer content of the play and considered pulling it, Ackerley argued that if she hadn't noticed the homosexual themes the audience wouldn't either - and he was right. Though, like Cody mentioned in their review, certain people, like war poet Siegfried Sassoon who was gay himself, did instantly clock it as queer so it's more likely to have been a somewhat disguised truth meant for those who knew how to look rather than a total secret.
The Prisoners of War is absolutely worth a read if you can get hold of it. It's online at HathiTrust for Americans but not as easy to find for the rest of us.
Despite the nice accommodations, the interminable wait is hell for most of the soldiers. It's perhaps even worse in a place so beautiful and unlike a prison and it leads to deteriorating mental and physical health for the men.
The play focuses on five officers, including Conrad, a 24-year-old well-off captain, who initially seems to be doing decently well considering the circumstances. However, Grayle, a younger officer, takes advantage of Conrad's unrequited romantic affections for him and it starts a downward trajectory that feels simultaneously preventable and inevitable.
"We get a little freedom, and so we want more. It's like being allowed to look at something we love, but not to touch."
J.R. Ackerley wrote the play exactly 100 years ago, in 1925, and it's been called the first 20th century play to deal with homosexual desire. Ackerley partially based it on his own experience as a POW during WWI, with Conrad, a captain and queer man like the author, being the character most resembling himself.
The Prisoners of War was put on stage in 1925 and was well-received which honestly came as a bit of a surprise to me when I found out. The play would quite clearly read as queer for most readers today though that likely wasn't the case a century ago which might've been Ackerley's intention. When the stage owner belatedly became aware of the queer content of the play and considered pulling it, Ackerley argued that if she hadn't noticed the homosexual themes the audience wouldn't either - and he was right. Though, like Cody mentioned in their review, certain people, like war poet Siegfried Sassoon who was gay himself, did instantly clock it as queer so it's more likely to have been a somewhat disguised truth meant for those who knew how to look rather than a total secret.
The Prisoners of War is absolutely worth a read if you can get hold of it. It's online at HathiTrust for Americans but not as easy to find for the rest of us.
Displaying 1 of 1 review