Mice and Men

Mice and Men is a romantic comedy in four acts by Madeleine Lucette Ryley (1858–1934)[1]

Not to be confused with the dramatized versions of Steinbeck's novel/play Of Mice and Men (1937).

The original text

A play about a man who sets out to create the perfect wife by adopting an orphan. His work is a success until the girl falls in love with another man. Ultimately, he must give her up and become satisfied with knowing, he did create the perfect wife, albeit for someone else.

First performed at the Theatre Royal, Manchester and the Lyric Theatre, London, in 1901and on Broadway in 1903. Published by Samuel French 1909.

Translations and adaptations

Made into silent romance film called Mice and Men in 1916, directed by J. Searle Dawley and starring Marguerite Clark.

Performance history in South Africa

1903: Performed in the Cape Town Opera House by the Sass and Nelson Company, with a cast that included T.B. Thalberg and Catherine Pole.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeleine_Lucette_Ryley

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mice_and_Men_(film)

D.C. Boonzaier, 1923. "My playgoing days – 30 years in the history of the Cape Town stage", in SA Review, 9 March and 24 August 1932. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.)

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: p.415

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