There are two plays by this name

The Idler by Charles Haddon Chambers (1891)

A play in four acts by Charles Haddon Chambers (1860-1921)[1].

First performed at St James's Theatre, London, on 26 February, 1891.

Published by Samuel French, 1902.

Facsimlie version of the 1902 edition by Samuel French, The Internet Archive [2]

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

The original text

Copyrighted at the Theatre Royal, Leicester, on 1 February, 1899 (as The Other Mr Smith) and subsequently performed as Facing the Music at the Prince of Wales' Theatre, Liverpool, from on 22 May 1899. First London performance in the Brixton Theatre on 5 June 1900. Published by Samuel French in 1905

Translations and adaptations

Performance history in South Africa

1900: Performed by Herbert Flemming and his company, probably featuring Lionel B. Stent, as part of an extended season in the Opera House, Cape Town.

Sources

Facsimile version of the Samuel French version (1905), The Internet Archive [3]

Allardyce Nicoll. 1975. A History of English Drama 1660-1900: Late 19th Century Drama 1850-1900 Cambridge University Press (pp.336-7)[4]

J.P. Wearing. 2013. The London Stage 1900-1909: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. (p. 5). Scarecrow Press, Google E-book[5]

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.408

Go to ESAT Bibliography

The Idler by Luigi Pirandello (1916)

This is the title given to an English version of Liolà by Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936)[6]. Described as a Sicilian comedy, this was Pirandello's first play and opened in 1916.

For more on this play, see the ESAT entry on Liolà