Gladys Cooper both produced and starred in the London premiere of the play in 1927 at the Playhouse Theatre where it ran for 60 weeks, including a tour of the provinces. The part of the husband was played by Nigel Bruce. Directed by Gerald du Maurier, this play was the first that Cooper had produced on her own and proved to be an important milestone in her theatrical career. In return for Cooper agreeing to produce the play, Maugham offered her an option on his next three plays: The Constant Wife, which she refused, The Sacred Flame, which she accepted, and The Breadwinner, which she also declined.
Katharine Cornell starred in the Broadway production that opened at the Morosco Theatre on 26 September 1927 and ran for 104 performances. The cast included J. W. Austin (Robert Crosbie) and Allan Jeayes (Howard Joyce); Guthrie McClintic directed.[3] The Broadway version did not include a scene that had been inserted into the final act in London, a flashback that related what had occurred immediately before the shooting that begins the play. After viewing the Broadway production's 12 September premiere in Toronto, The New York Times commended the omission of this "awkward and artificial movie technique".[4]
Revivals
The play was revived in 1995 at the Lyric Hammersmith, directed by Neil Bartlett and starring Joanna Lumley and Tim Pigott-Smith, and in 2007 at Wyndham's Theatre, directed by Alan Strachan and starring Jenny Seagrove and Anthony Andrews.
