Première
The play was staged in 1921 by the Compagnia di Dario Niccodemi at the Valle Theatre in Rome to mixed results. The public split into supporters and adversaries. The author, who was present at the presentation with his daughter Lietta, was forced to leave the theatre through a side exit in order to avoid the crowd of opponents. However, the play was a great success when presented in Milan.
West End production, 1922
The first production in English was given at the Kingsway Theatre, London on 26 February 1922, directed by Theodore Komisarjevsky, with the following cast:[2]
- The Father – Franklin Dyall
- The Mother – Lilian Moubrey
- The Stepdaughter – Muriel Pratt
- The Son – William Armstrong
- The Boy – Frederick Peisley
- The Little Girl – Sylvia Spagnoletti
- Madame Pace – Margaret Yarde
- The Manager and Leading Comedian – Alfred Clark
- The Leading Man – George Hayes
- The Leading Lady – Sylvia Young
- The Juvenile Man – Maurice Colbourne
- The Juvenile Lady – Elizabeth Arkell
- The Heavy Lady – Muriel Hope
- The Third Actor – Hugh Owen
- The Fourth Actor – D. A. Clarke-Smith
- The Stage Manager – Matthew Forsyth
- The Prompter – J. Leslie Frith
- The Stage Doorkeeper – Gilbert Davis
Broadway and off-Broadway productions
- American premiere: 30 October 1922, 136 performances, Princess Theatre, directed by Brock Pemberton[3]
- 26 February 1924, 17 performances, 44th Street Theatre, directed by Brock Pemberton[4]
- 15 April 1931, 13 performances, Bijou Theatre, staged by William W. Schorr[5]
- 11 December 1955, 65 performances, Phoenix Theatre, adapted by Tyrone Guthrie and Michael Wager based on a translation by Frank Tauritz, staged by Tyrone Guthrie[6]
- 8 March 1963, 529 performances, Martinique Theatre, directed by William Ball, received Outer Critics Circle Award and three Obie Awards[7]
Other
- 1931: Tyrone Guthrie directed the play at the Westminster Theatre in London[8]
- 1948: Ngaio Marsh directed the play with the Canterbury Student Players at the Little Theatre, Christchurch, New Zealand, as a special performance for The Old Vic touring company featuring Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh.[9]
- 1949: Ngaio Marsh directed the play on a 140 performance tour for 25,000 people with the Canterbury Student Players to Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne, Australia.[10]
- 1996: Robert Brustein adapted the play for the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts
- 2000: Cesear's Forum, Cleveland's minimalist theatre company, presented the play in the intimate Kennedy's Theatre at Playhouse Square in a July/August production.[11]
- 2000: Part of the Shaw Festival season (Niagara-on-the-Lake) at the Court House Theatre, directed by Tadeusz Bradecki and translated by Domenico Pietropaolo. Revived in 2001.
- 2008: A production in the Minerva Theatre, Chichester, adapted by Ben Power and Rupert Goold and directed by Goold, transferred to the Gielgud Theatre, London, for a limited run
- 2011: Produced by the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts at Hong Kong, adapted and directed by Wingo Lee
- 2012: Produced by The Hypocrites at the Chopin Theatre in Chicago; adapted by Steve Moulds and directed by Artistic Director Halena Kays
- 2013, 2–14 April: Produced by WOH Productions at the Rose Theatre, Bankside in London; adapted by Anthony Khaseria and Manuela Ruggiero, directed by Manuela Ruggiero
- 2014: Adapted in Urdu language, produced by National Academy of Performing Arts, Karachi (Pakistan)
- 2014: Adapted by the Sydney University Dramatic Society featuring student actors playing themselves[12]
- 2014: A production by Théâtre de la Ville-Paris, translated and adopted in French by François Regnault, and directed by Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota, toured the United States[13]
- 2016: Adapted by New England Youth Theater in Brattleboro Vermont, adapted and directed by Rebecca Waxman, with students cross-cast with characters and actors exchanging parts in alternating performances
- 2022: Adapted by Crane Creations Theatre Company in Canada in a play date event. This play reading is meant to spread awareness and increase appreciation of playwrights and playwriting from around the world and to global audiences.
