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an enchanted wood springs up, in which, in Act 2, the visitors undergo a metamorphosis. A light-fingered butler has taken another turning and become a rich but fraudulent financier; the high-and-mighty aristocrat who belittles him in the first act is now in love with him. A philanderer now married to
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In Act 3 the characters return to reality, having benefited to varying degrees from their experiences in the wood in Act 2. The butler resigns himself to domestic service rather than high finance; the philanderer is so little reformed that he is found attempting a fresh conquest, to the amusement of
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The theme of the play is whether it would benefit people if they could have their lives over again and make different choices. The characters consist of dissatisfied couples, who all feel that they have taken the wrong turning in life. They are brought together to the house of an ancient individual
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his mistress discovers his affinity with his former wife. A heavy-drinking painter, despised by his wife and lamenting his lack of children, finds himself happy with a devoted daughter; his wife is alone, and starving, abandoned by the aristocrat she had wished in Act 1 that she had married.
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fascinated me … His humour is at its best and his one note of pathos true. Another wrote, "Barrie-ish, yes. But what an elusive quality this is – sentimental, wistful, pathetic, cheerful, familiar, fantastic!". Several reviewers commented that despite the quotation from
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his wife and his mistress; an elderly man who had longed for a second youth proposes again to his faithful spouse; the artist and his wife are reconciled, and the dream child of Act 2 has become almost real to both of them and lives on in their hearts.
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The play was revived in 1922 at the same venue for another 257 performance run, with du
Maurier again in the cast along with
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107:: "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves" (which is quoted in full by Mr. Purdie near the end).
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The London Stage 1920–1929: A Calendar of
Productions, Performers, and Personnel
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The London Stage 1910–1919: A Calendar of
Productions, Performers, and Personnel
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in Barrie's title, the
Shakespeare play that repeatedly came to mind was
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J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan In and Out of Time: A Children's
Classic at 100
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Barrie's characters seen as variants of
Shakespeare's from
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The play was favourably reviewed. One critic said, "
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123:between 17 October 1917 and 24 August 1918.
231:, who is described as "all that is left of
273:The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News
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115:The play ran for 363 performances at the
401:White, Donna R.; Tarr, Anita C. (2006),
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385:Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News
383:"'Dear Brutus' at Wyndham's Theatre",
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227:bearing the Shakespearean name of
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16:1917 fantasy play by J. M. Barrie
458:Fiction about parallel universes
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36:as Margaret, the dream child
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423:, Rowman & Littlefield
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387:, 10 November 1917, p. 294
93:is a 1917 fantasy play by
306:A Midsummer Night's Dream
267:A Midsummer Night's Dream
141:Mr Coade – Norman Forbes
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419:Wearing, J. P. (2014),
410:Wearing, J. P. (2013),
369:, 24 October 1917, p. 1
349:, 18 October 1917, p. 9
138:Mr Purdie – Sam Sothern
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174:Lady Caroline Laney –
147:Lob – Arthur Hatherton
443:Plays by J. M. Barrie
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238:Outside his house on
453:Plays set in England
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251:Critical reception
405:, Scarecrow Press
204:Mabel Terry-Lewis
144:Matey – Will West
134:Gerald du Maurier
117:Wyndham's Theatre
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71:Original language
64:Wyndham's Theatre
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168:Joanna Trout –
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170:Doris Lytton
162:Mrs Coade –
132:Mr Dearth –
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95:J. M. Barrie
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46:J. M. Barrie
257:Dear Brutus
216:Joyce Carey
182:Faith Celli
180:Margaret –
152:Hilda Moore
99:Shakespeare
90:Dear Brutus
34:Faith Celli
22:Dear Brutus
438:1917 plays
432:Categories
313:References
42:Written by
347:The Times
193:The Times
286:Lysander
190:Source:
121:West End
66:, London
367:The Era
278:Titania
119:in the
82:Fantasy
74:English
294:Hermia
290:Helena
282:Bottom
79:Genre
292:and
280:and
222:Plot
214:and
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229:Lob
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