Plot
The play takes place in summer in a castle on the Italian Riviera. The first act takes place at 2 a.m., the second act at 6 a.m., and the third act at 7:30 p.m., all on the same Saturday, August 21. Sandor Turai, who has been a playwright for thirty years, and Mansky, a fellow playwright and Turai's life-long collaborator, are spending a couple of weeks at a castle, along with Sandor's young nephew, composer Albert Adam. Albert is engaged to prima donna Ilona Szabo. She is also staying at the castle, though they have not told her they are there yet. Turai, Mansky, and Albert overhear from Ilona's bedroom suggestive flirting between Almady, an actor who is married with children, and Ilona, who was once romantically involved with Almady. She eventually tells him to leave, but only after Albert has stopped listening. Albert is depressed because of what he heard and Turai is concerned for him. He thinks of a plan and starts writing in the library. At 6 a.m., polite footman Dwornitschek and two lackeys in livery deliver Turai's breakfast. Turai tells Ilona that he and Albert overheard her and Almady. She is alarmed since she truly wants to marry Albert. Turai says that he has a plan to help her, and also explains the situation to Almady, threatening to reveal the truth to Almady's wife in a telegram if he does not follow the plan. Turai's idea is that Ilona and Almady will pretend that they were merely rehearsing lines from a play. To make this believable, Turai spent the previous two hours writing the play, which includes the overheard lines. Turai insists the two actors must learn their lines and perform the play that night, to explain why they had to rehearse at 3 a.m. that morning. There will be a dress rehearsal in the evening and then the play will be performed in the after-dinner concert, in which Ilona and Almady were already scheduled to perform other acts. Following Turai's directions, Ilona notifies Mr. Mell, who is running the concert, about the change, and claims the play they will be performing was written by Sardou. In the evening, Mell oversees the rehearsal and Dwornitschek brings the props. Albert watches Ilona and Almady rehearse their scene. Turai helps prompt them in their lines, though he clearly gave Almady unnecessarily difficult names and lines to memorize. Mansky and Albert notice that some of the lines are identical to the ones they overheard and are convinced that Ilona and Almady were only rehearsing those lines earlier, while Turai feigns surprise. The suggestive dialogue from before is reworked with props to be innocent. Almady struggles more with his lines, which become very unflattering and self-deprecating. The rehearsal ends, and Almady decides to leave by train immediately after the concert. Albert praises Ilona's performance. He happily exits arm in arm with her and Turai is satisfied.Roles and original cast
The following is a list of the characters in the play, with the original cast members who performed in the original 1926 New York production. *Sandor Turai, ''a famous dramatist'' – Holbrook Blinn *Mansky, ''his collaborator'' – Hubert Druce *Albert Adam, ''a young composer'' – Edward Crandall *Ilona Szabo, ''a prima donna'' – Catherine Dale Owen *Almady, ''a leading actor'' – Reginald Owen *Johann Dwornitschek, ''a footman'' – Ralph Nairn *Mell, ''the Count's secretary'' – Claud Allister *Lackeys – Stephan Kendal and John GerardProductions
P. G. Wodehouse was commissioned by Gilbert Miller to adapt Ferenc Molnár's play in the summer of 1926. ''The Play's the Thing'' was first staged at Irving M. Lesser's Great Neck Playhouse, Great Neck, Long Island, on 21 October 1926 by the Charles Frohman Company, with Gilbert Miller as Managing Director. This was the first time the play was presented on stage in any language. The play premiered at Henry Miller's Theatre, New York, on 3 November 1926, and ran for 313 performances. The producer and director was Gilbert Miller. The play starred Holbrook Blinn and Catherine Dale Owen. The play was produced at the Empire Theatre, New York, opening on 9 April 1928 and running for 24 performances. The play again was directed by Gilbert Miller and starred Holbrook Blinn. At thePublication history
The play was published on 7 February 1927 by Brentano's, New York.McIlvaine (1990), C2, p. 136. It was printed in '' Theatre Arts Magazine'', New York, in March 1949. In 1953, the play was published as ''The Play's the Thing: A Comedy in Three Acts'' by Samuel French. ''The Play's the Thing'' was printed in the 1957 anthology ''Twenty Best European Plays on the American Stage'', published by Crown, New York. The anthology was edited by John Gassner. The play was included in the 1983 book ''Four Plays'', a collection of four plays by P. G. Wodehouse published by Methuen London Ltd. The other plays in the collection are '' Good Morning, Bill'', '' Leave It to Psmith'', and '' Come On, Jeeves''. Wodehouse gave a possible nod to the play by naming a character "Princess Dwornitzchek" in his 1937 novel '' Summer Moonshine''.References
;Notes ;Bibliography * *External links