''General John Regan'' is a comedy play by the Irish writer

George A. Birmingham George A. Birmingham was the pen name of James Owen Hannay (16 July 1865 – 2 February 1950), Irish clergyman and prolific novelist.Taylor, Brian (1995). ''The Life and Writings of James Owen Hannay (George Birmingham) 1865-1950.'' (Studies ...

. A

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convinces a small Irish town that a statue ought to be erected to one of its natives who is claimed to have led the independence movement of a

South American South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

country, closely modelled on

Bernardo O'Higgins Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme (; August 20, 1778 – October 24, 1842) was a Chilean independence leader who freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. He was a wealthy landowner of Basque-Spanish and Irish ancestry. Althou ...

. It premiered at the

Apollo Theatre The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, in central London.

in London on 8 January 1913 where it had a long run. Its American premiere was at the

Hudson Theatre The Hudson Theatre is a Broadway theater at 139–141 West 44th Street, between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. One of the oldest surviving Broadway venues, the Hudson was built ...

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on 13 November 1913. It received good reviews from critics, and was commercially successful. When it was first staged at

Westport, Ireland Westport (, historically anglicised as ''Cahernamart'') is a town in County Mayo in Ireland.Westport Before 1800 by Michael Kelly published in Cathair Na Mart 2019 It is at the south-east corner of Clew Bay, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean on the ...

it provoked a

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as the crowd objected to the depiction of what they felt was a mocking representation of their town (where the writer served as an Anglican clergyman).

Adaptations

The play has been adapted to film several times. In 1921 a silent version '' General John Regan'' was made. In 1933 a sound version '' General John Regan'' was made starring Henry Edwards and

Chrissie White Chrissie White (23 May 1895 – 18 August 1989) was a British film actress of the silent film, silent era. She appeared in more than 180 films between 1908 and 1933. White married actor and film director Henry Edwards (actor), Henry Edwards ...

References

Irish plays 1913 plays British plays adapted into films {{1910s-play-stub