The Letter (play)

"The Letter" is a play by W. Somerset Maugham dramatised from a story which first appeared in his collection entitled "The Casuarina Tree" published in 1924. The story is based on a real-life scandal involving the wife of the headmaster of a school in Kuala Lumpur who faced a murder trial after shooting dead a male friend. In the play the action takes place in the house of a plantation owner, Robert Crosbie, and his wife, Leslie, in the then-British colony of Malaya, and later in the Chinese quarter of Singapore. With husband away on business the wife claims that she shot the mutual friend, Geoff Hammond, in self-defence, following an attempted rape, and the play focuses on the steps taken by the wife's lawyer to convince the court of her innocence, following the discovery of an incriminating letter.

Gladys Cooper both produced and starred in the London premiere of the play in 1927 at the Playhouse Theatre where it ran for 60 weeks, including a tour of the Provinces. The part of the husband was played by Nigel Bruce. Directed by Gerald du Maurier, this play was the first that Cooper had produced on her own and proved to be an important milestone in her theatrical career. In return for Cooper agreeing to produce the play, Maugham offered her an option on his next three plays; "The Constant Wife", which she refused, "The Sacred Flame", which she accepted, and "The Breadwinner", which she also declined. Later that year the first Broadway production at the Majestic Theatre starred Katharine Cornell, Swezo Kotoro, John Buckler, Allan Jeayes and J. W. Austin.

The play was revived in 1995 at the Lyric Hammersmith, directed by Neil Bartlett and starring Joanna Lumley and Tim Piggot-Smith, and in 2007 at Wyndham's Theatre, directed by Alan Stachan and starring Jenny Seagrove and Anthony Andrews.

There are two film versions of the story, one made in 1929 by Paramount Pictures starring Jeanne Eagels and the 1940 version made by Warner Bros. starring Bette Davis.

Santa Fe Opera has commissioned Paul Moravec and Terry Teachout to write an operatic version. It will be premiered in the summer of 2009 in a production directed by Jonathan Kent.

References

*Sewell Stokes (with an Introduction by W. Somerset Maugham), "Without Veils: The Intimate Biography of Gladys Cooper", London: Peter Davis, 1953.