''A Song of Sixpence'' is a 1930 British

comedy play Comedy is a genre of dramatic performance having a light or humorous tone that depicts amusing incidents and in which the characters ultimately triumph over adversity. For ancient Greeks and Romans, a comedy was a stage-play with a happy endin ...

by the writers

Ian Hay Major General John Hay Beith, CBE MC (17 April 1876 – 22 September 1952), was a British schoolmaster and soldier, but is best remembered as a novelist, playwright, essayist, and historian who wrote under the pen name Ian Hay. After rea ...

and

Guy Bolton Guy Reginald Bolton (23 November 1884 – 4 September 1979) was an Anglo-American playwright and writer of musical comedies. Born in England and educated in France and the US, he trained as an architect but turned to writing. Bolton preferred ...

. Set in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, it tells the story of three wives who rebel against their tight-fisted husbands. The play premiered at the

Kings Theatre, Southsea The Kings Theatre is a theatre in Southsea, Portsmouth, designed by the architect Frank Matcham. It opened on 30 September 1907. It is operated by the Kings Theatre Trust Ltd. The building was designated a Grade II* listed building in 1976. Hi ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

before transferring to the West End. It ran for 79 performances at

Daly's Theatre Daly's Theatre was a theatre in the City of Westminster. It was located at 2 Cranbourn Street, just off Leicester Square. It opened on 27 June 1893, and was demolished in 1937. The theatre was built for and named after the American impresar ...

between 17 March and 25 May 1930. The cast included Ian Hunter,

Olive Blakeney Olive Blakeney (August 21, 1894 October 21, 1959) was an American actress. Early years Blakeney was born in Kentucky and attended the Cincinnati School of Expression. Career Blakeney played as a super in visiting stage shows at $1 per perfor ...

, Jack Lambert and Campbell Gullan.Wearing p.16

References

Bibliography

* Wearing, J.P. ''The London Stage 1930-1939: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel''. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014. 1930 plays Plays by Guy Bolton Plays by Ian Hay Plays set in Scotland West End plays {{1930s-play-stub