Quality Street is a comedy in four acts by J. M. Barrie

J. M. Barrie

Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, OM was a Scottish author and dramatist, best remembered today as the creator of Peter Pan. The child of a family of small-town weavers, he was educated in Scotland. He moved to London, where he developed a career as a novelist and playwright...

, written before his more famous work Peter Pan. The story is about two sisters who start a school "for genteel children".

The play opened at the Knickerbocker Theatre

Knickerbocker Theatre (Broadway)

The Knickerbocker Theatre — previously known as Abbey's Theatre and Henry Abbey's Theatre — was a Broadway theatre located at 1396 Broadway in New York City. It operated from 1893 to 1930...

 in New York on November 11, 1901, produced by Charles Frohman

Charles Frohman

Charles Frohman was an American theatrical producer. Frohman was producing plays by 1889 and acquired his first Broadway theatre by 1892. He discovered and promoted many stars of the American theatre....

 and starring Maude Adams

Maude Adams

Maude Ewing Kiskadden , known professionally as Maude Adams, was an American stage actress who achieved her greatest success as Peter Pan. Adams's personality appealed to a large audience and helped her become the most successful and highest-paid performer of her day, with a yearly income of more...

, but ran for only a modestly successful 64 performances. It then opened at the Vaudeville Theatre

Vaudeville Theatre

The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on The Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each new building retained elements of the previous...

 in London on 17 September 1902 and ran for a very successful 459 performances, starring Ellaline Terriss

Ellaline Terriss

Ellaline Terriss, born Ellaline Lewin , was a popular English actress and singer, best known for her performances in Edwardian musical comedies...

, Seymour Hicks

Seymour Hicks

Sir Arthur Seymour Hicks , better known as Seymour Hicks, was a British actor, music hall performer, playwright, screenwriter, theatre manager and producer. He married the actress Ellaline Terriss in 1893...

 and Marion Terry

Marion Terry

Marion Bessie Terry was an English actress. In a career spanning half a century, she played leading roles in more than 125 plays. Always in the shadow of her more famous sister Ellen, Terry nevertheless achieved considerable success in the plays of W. S...

, making it one of the first American productions to score a bigger triumph in London than in New York. The piece then enjoyed numerous revivals and tours.

When Hicks and Terriss moved to a new home, The Old Forge at Merstham

Merstham

Merstham is a village in the Reigate and Banstead borough of Surrey, England, in the London commuter belt. It is just north of Redhill, near the intersection of the M25 and M23 motorways, on the edge of the North Downs and on the North Downs Way.-History:...

, Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

, their cul-de-sac was renamed "Quality Street". The play also inspired a brand of candy of the same name that originally used characters from the play in its advertising.

The play was adapted twice for film; the first, in 1927

Quality Street (1927 film)

Quality Street is a 1927 MGM silent film based on the 1901 play by James M. Barrie which starred Barrie favorite Maude Adams. The film starred Marion Davies and Conrad Nagel and was directed by Sidney Franklin...

 starred Marion Davies

Marion Davies

Marion Davies was an American film actress. Davies is best remembered for her relationship with newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, as her high-profile social life often obscured her professional career....

, and the second, in 1937, starred Katharine Hepburn

Katharine Hepburn

Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, stage, and television. In a career that spanned 62 years as a leading lady, she was best known for playing strong-willed, sophisticated women in both dramas and comedies...

.

Roles and 1902 London cast

• Valentine Brown - Suitor of Miss Phoebe – Seymour Hicks
  Seymour Hicks
  Sir Arthur Seymour Hicks , better known as Seymour Hicks, was a British actor, music hall performer, playwright, screenwriter, theatre manager and producer. He married the actress Ellaline Terriss in 1893...
  
  
• Miss Phoebe Throssel - A School Mistress – Ellaline Terriss
  Ellaline Terriss
  Ellaline Terriss, born Ellaline Lewin , was a popular English actress and singer, best known for her performances in Edwardian musical comedies...
  
  
• Miss Livvy - Alter ego of Phoebe – Ellaline Terriss
• Ensign Blades - A Young Officer – A. Vane Tempest
• Lieutenant Spicer - A Young Officer – Vincent Sternroyd
• Susan Throssell - Sister to Phoebe – Marion Terry
  Marion Terry
  Marion Bessie Terry was an English actress. In a career spanning half a century, she played leading roles in more than 125 plays. Always in the shadow of her more famous sister Ellen, Terry nevertheless achieved considerable success in the plays of W. S...
  
  
• Patty - Maid-of-all-work in service of the Throssell sisters – Rosini Filippi
• Recruiting Sergeant – George Shelton
• A Waterloo Veteran – Charles Daly
• Arthur Wellesley Tomson – George Hersee
• Miss Willoughby – Henrietta Watson
• Miss Fanny Willoughby – Irene Rooke
• Miss Henrietta Turnbull – Constance Hyem
• Miss Charlotte Parratt – May Taverner
• Isabella – Winifred Hall
• Harriett – Edith Heslewood

Plot

The play is set in Napoleonic times.

Act 1
There is heightened anticipation as the local gossips of the town discuss the developing relationship between Miss Phoebe Throssel and Valentine Brown. Phoebe then confesses to her sister, Susan, that Brown intends to drop by later that day, and both are certain he means to propose. When he finally does appear, it is not to ask for Phoebe's hand in marriage but to announce his intention to join the fight in Europe against Napoleon. This leaves the girls devastated.

Act 2
Ten years after the departure of Brown, we find the girls have set up a school in order to pay the rent. Phoebe has not accepted any other suitor and has allowed herself to become an "Old Maid

Spinster

A spinster, or old maid, is an older, childless woman who has never been married.For a woman to be identified as a spinster, age is critical...

" and school mistress. Phoebe, however, longs for her youth, and the return of Captain Brown only deepens her melancholy. "I am tired of being lady-like," she declares. With some encouragement from her maid, Patty, she creates the fictional character of Miss Livvy, a more energetic, flirtatious and naughty version of her younger self, and begins to tease Captain Brown who, captivated by her, persuades her and Susan to accompany him to the ball.

Act 3
At the ball, and Phoebe is still playing the part of Miss Livvy. In this guise, she has captured the eyes of many of the young men and the scorn of ladies. However, Phoebe is now annoyed that Brown seems to prefer this unsubstantial 'young' flirt that she has created to her true personality and qualities. Her actions cause events to come to a head as her act is almost brought to light by the local gossiping girls Fanny Willoughby and Henrietta Turnbull. In a final confrontation with Captain Brown, we discover that he has found his love for Miss Phoebe and not for Miss Livvy, as he insists that "I have discovered for myself that the schoolmistress in her old maid's cap is the noblest Miss Phoebe of them all."

Act 4
Miss Livvy still hangs heavy over the sisters: having been created, she is now difficult to dispose of. The local gossips watch for any sign of Miss Livvy and frequently visit the sisters' home. Brown comes to ask for Phoebe’s hand and is turned down without explanation. As a result, he becomes aware of the disguise and the sisters' plight and sets out to right all wrongs, even his own.