2 h 55 minAudiobook6 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when bloodthirsty pirates look as foolish as they do fearsome?
In Wappin' Wharf, Charles S. Brooks brings pirates to the stage in a comedy of rogues, schemes and dark humor. The waterfront gives these figures their setting: a place where ships tie up, cargo changes hands and sailors spend their pay. Here, the promise of swashbuckling adventure meets the pleasure of seeing villains made ridiculous.
This is pirate burlesque, not a realistic history of life at sea. Brooks brings the light, bookish wit of his essays into a theatrical world of fearsome reputations and comic foolishness. The appeal lies in that contrast: rogues invite laughter as well as unease, and the pirate adventure takes a turn toward the absurd.
What you’ll discover
- Fearsome yet foolish rogues Enjoy pirates whose comic side unsettles the imposing image of the bloodthirsty villain.
- A waterfront world Step onto a wharf where ships, cargo and sailors give the comedy its setting.
- Schemes with a dark edge Explore a swashbuckling comedy that brings roguish plans together with dark humor.
- An essayist's playful wit Discover the light, literary humor Charles S. Brooks brings from essays to the stage.
- The pleasure of burlesque See the fearsome pirate figure become a source of laughter rather than solemn adventure.
Who will love it
You will love this if you enjoy pirate adventures played for laughs, stage comedy with songs, and tales of mistaken identity told with a wink to the audience.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Old pirates retire to a cliff
- They live by luring ships to ruin
- A stranger and a girl share a song
- Three suitors and a pub in Bristol
- The fortune-teller and the suspicious Duke
- Disguise, memory and a child's heart
- A play told with a wink
Who’s who
- The DukeA one-legged, red-nosed pirate who does the crew's thinking, courts Betsy and distrusts Red Joe.
- Patch-EyeA one-eyed, sentimental pirate who cries at old songs and is quick to boast about his courage.
- The CaptainThe hook-handed head of the crew, who brings the news and is proud of his rank.
- Red JoeA young, gallant newcomer with no pigtail who stays gentle among rogues and watches Betsy closely.
- BetsyA kind young girl who cooks and sings in the cabin and cannot remember where she came from.
- Darlin'The one-toothed cook who mixes the grog, adores the Duke and dreams of a pub in Bristol.
- Old MegA gypsy fortune-teller who loves grog, reads a crystal and keeps what she sees to herself.
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 2 h 55 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 6 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Wappin’ Wharf
by Charles S. Brooks · 1922
On a stormy Devon cliff, retired pirates lure ships onto the rocks while a stranger watches them.
Medium level2–5 hours to read25 languages
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In short
What do pirates do when they grow too old for the sea? In Wappin' Wharf, a comic play by Charles S. Brooks, they retire to a stone cabin on a Devon cliff and wreck ships for a living.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Old pirates retire to a cliff
The play opens in a stone cabin high above Clovelly, a Devon fishing village whose single street climbs like a staircase. Charles S. Brooks asks the audience to forget exact dates, since the time is a vague long ago. His pirates have grown old and stiff, so they live on shore, yet their villainy still thrives.
Two of them sit drinking grog while thunder rolls. Patch-Eye wears an eye patch and weeps easily over old friends. The Duke has a timber leg, a red nose and a quick, scheming mind. Both miss their old captain Flint, who was hanged at Wapping Wharf in London.
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What is Wappin' Wharf about?
It is a comic play about retired pirates in a cabin on the Devon coast who wreck ships with a false lantern, until a stranger named Red Joe and a girl named Betsy disturb their plans.
Where is Wappin' Wharf set?
The action takes place in a pirates' cabin on a cliff above Clovelly in Devon, at an unnamed long-ago time. Wapping Wharf in London is where pirates were hanged, and it gives the play its title.
Why is the play called Wappin' Wharf?
Brooks took the name from the London wharf where pirates faced the gibbet. He says it gives the play a sense of mystery, and the pirates keep mentioning it as the dark shadow over their lives.
The author
Charles S. Brooks
1878–1934 · American essayist and playwright
Charles Stephen Brooks (1878–1934) was an American writer who lived in Cleveland, Ohio. He wrote essays and plays. His books include Journeys to Bagdad, published in 1915, and Chimney-Pot Papers, published in 1919. His play Wappin’ Wharf was published in 1922. He helped found the Cleveland Play House in 1915.
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