Our Betters is a comedy play by the British writer Somerset Maugham. Set in Mayfair and a country house in Suffolk, the plot revolves around the interaction between newly wealthy Americans and upper-class British society.

Our Betters
Programme from the original West End run.
Written bySomerset Maugham
Date premiered8 March 1917
Place premieredNixon Theatre,
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Original languageEnglish
GenreComedy

It premiered at the Nixon Theatre in Atlantic City, New Jersey before transferring to the Hudson Theatre on Broadway where it ran for 112 performances. It didn't premiere in London immediately, but then enjoyed a very lengthy West End run of 548 performances at the Globe Theatre between 12 September 1923 and 3 January 1925. The London cast included Constance Collier, Ronald Squire, Reginald Owen, John Stuart, Alfred Drayton, Margaret Bannerman and Martita Hunt.[1]

Adaptation

edit

In 1933 it was made into a film of the same title by the Hollywood studio RKO. Directed by George Cukor and starring Constance Bennett, Anita Louise and Gilbert Roland.[2]

References

edit
  1. ^ Wearing p.246
  2. ^ Goble p.314

Bibliography

edit
  • Goble, Alan. The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter, 1999.
  • Hastings, Selina. The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham: A Biography. Simon and Schuster, 2012.
  • Wearing, J.P. The London Stage 1920-1929: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014.