''The Voysey Inheritance'' is a play in five acts by the English dramatist

Harley Granville-Barker Harley Granville-Barker (25 November 1877 – 31 August 1946) was an English actor, director, playwright, manager, critic, and theorist. After early success as an actor in the plays of George Bernard Shaw, he increasingly turned to directi ...

. Written in 1903–1905, it was originally staged at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, Englan ...

in 1905 featuring

Mabel Hackney Mabel Lucy Hackney (1872 – 29 May 1914) was a British actress and the wife of the dramatist and actor Laurence Irving and daughter-in-law of the actor Henry Irving in whose company she acted before she joined that of her husband. She died alon ...

, and revived at the same venue in 1965, the

Royal Exchange, Manchester The Royal Exchange is a grade II listed building in Manchester, England. It is located in the city centre on the land bounded by St Ann's Square, Exchange Street, Market Street, Cross Street and Old Bank Street. The complex includes the Royal ...

in 1989 and at the National Theatre in 1989, and in 2006. In 2006, American playwright

David Mamet David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, filmmaker, and author. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony Award, Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and ''Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first ...

wrote what a critic for ''

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'' called a "canny new adaptation" of the play for New York's

Atlantic Theatre Company Atlantic Theater Company is an Off-Broadway non-profit theater, whose mission is to produce great plays "simply and truthfully utilizing an artistic ensemble." The company was founded in 1985 by David Mamet, William H. Macy, and 30 of their ac ...

. Described by

Samuel French Samuel French (1821–1898) was an American entrepreneur who, together with British actor, playwright and theatrical manager Thomas Hailes Lacy, pioneered in the field of theatrical publishing and the licensing of plays. Biography French founde ...

as "a witty, impeccably crafted portrait of a family in the midst of a surprisingly modern moral dilemma", its subject is financial fraud, on which Ian Clarke wrote, "in ''The Voysey Inheritance'', the dishonesty implicates not only the individual Voyseys but the institutions, ideology, and economic base of Edwardian England".

Plot

Edward's highly principled world upturns when he discovers the family business he is inheriting has been defrauding its clients for years because his father has been illegally speculating with their money. To compound matters, he quickly discovers his large, scandal-fearing family knew of the crime but allowed it to continue rather than face the shame of public disclosure.

Quote

"Of course it's pleasant and comfortable to keep within the law . . . then the law will look after you. Otherwise you have to look pretty sharp after yourself. You have to cultivate your own sense of right and wrong . . . deal with your own justice. But that makes a bigger man of you, let me tell you."

References

English plays 1905 plays {{1900s-play-stub

Plot

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See also

References