Transcribed from the 1887 Office of “The Commonweal”edition , email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk
THE TABLES TURNED;
or,
Nupkins Awakened
A Socialist Interlude
by
WILLIAM MORRIS
Author of ‘The Earthly Paradise.’
As for the first time played at the Hall of the Socialist Leagueon Saturday October 15, 1887
LONDON:
OFFICE OF “THE COMMONWEAL”
13 FARRINGDON ROAD, E.C.
1887
All Rights Reserved.
p. iORIGINAL CAST.
DRAMATIS PERSONÆ—PART I.
Mr. La-di-da (found guilty of swindling) . . . H.Bartlett.
Mr. Justice Nupkins . . . W. Blundell.
Mr. Hungary, Q.C. (Counsel for the Prosecution) . . . W.H. Utley.
Sergeant Sticktoit (Witness for Prosecution) . . . JamesAllman.
Constable Potlegoff (Witness for Prosecution) . . . H.B. Tarleton.
Constable Strongithoath (Witness for Prosecution) . . . J.Flockton.
Mary Pinch (a labourer’s wife, accused of theft) . .. May Morris.
Foreman of Jury . . . T. Cantwell.
Jack Freeman (a Socialist, accused of conspiracy, sedition, andobstruction of the highway) . . . H. H. Sparling.
Archbishop of Canterbury (Witness for Defence) . . . W.Morris.
Lord Tennyson (Witness for Defence) . . . A.Brookes.
Professor Tyndall (Witness for Defence) . . . H.Bartlett.
William Joyce (a Socialist Ensign) . . . H.A. Barker.
Usher . . . J. Lane.
Clerk of the Court . . . J. Turner.
Jurymen, Interrupters, Revolutionists, etc., etc.
* * * * *
DRAMATIS PERSONÆ.—PART II.
Citizen Nupkins (late Justice) . . . W.Blundell,
Mary Pinch . . . May Morris.
William Joyce (late Socialist Ensign) . . . H.A. Barker.
Jack Freeman . . . H. H. Sparling.
1st Neighbour . . . H. B. Tarleton.
2nd Neighbour . . . J. Lane.
3rd Neighbour . . . H. Graham.
Robert Pinch, and other Neighbours, Men and Women.
p. 1PART I.
SCENE.—A Court of Justice.
Usher, Clerk of the Court, Mr. Hungary, Q.C.,and others. Mr. La-di-da, theprisoner, not in the dock, but seated in a chair before it. [Enter Mr. Justice Nupkins.
Usher. Silence!—silence!
Mr. Justice Nupkins. Prisoner at the bar, you have beenfound guilty by a jury, after a very long and careful considerationof your remarkable and strange case, of a very serious offence; an offencewhich squeamish moralists are apt to call robbing the widow and orphan;a cant phrase also, with which I hesitate to soil my lips, designate