At Duty's Call (poster)

A military melodrama of 1898, the author was John Geraint who probably adapted it from Muskerry and Jourdain's spectacular re-creation, Khartoum; or, the Star of the Desert. The poster is notable for its depiction of the archetypal hero of melodrama. The glorious achievement of the British soldier in battle against the evil native was popular stage material towards the end of the l9th century. This particular play, like its model, is set in the Sudan and concerns the war against the Mahdi.