The Wolves and the Lamb

In a spacious Richmond villa, the late Mrs. Milliken’s portrait watches over a lively household of merchants, relatives, and a bustling staff. Widower Horace Milliken’s world is a comedy of manners, where arrivals in carriage and cab spark endless chatter about politics, literature, and propriety. From the opening scene, the play sketches a vivid satire of Victorian class divisions, letting even a foot‑boy launch philosophical debates.

At the center stands John Howell, the butler, whose swagger and encyclopedic knowledge of his master’s business let him dominate conversations with a mix of contempt and wit. His sharp exchanges with the nervous foot‑boy Page, the sarcastic governess Miss Prior, and the self‑important Lady Kicklebury generate a whirlwind of humor that skewers pretensions on both sides of the service line. The first act establishes a tangled web of rivalries and inflated egos, promising more clever repartee as the drama progresses.