The Children’s Hour
The Children’s Hour by Lillian Hellman, copyright © 1934 by Lillian Hellman Kober and renewed 1962 by Lillian Hellman. Used by permission of Random House, Inc. and Lantz-Harris Literary Agency.
CAUTION: Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that The Children’s Hour is subject to royalty. It is fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America and of all countries covered by the International Copyright Union (including the Dominion of Canada and the rest of the British Commonwealth), the Berne Convention, the Pan-American Copyright Convention, and the Universal Copyright Convention as well as all countries with which the United States has reciprocal copyright relations. Particular emphasis is laid upon the matter of readings, permission for which must be secured from the Author’s agent in writing. Inquiries concerning rights should be addressed to The Lantz Office, 200 W 57th St., Suite #503, New York, NY 10019.
Patricia Neal (Karen), Iris Mann (Mary), and Kim Hunter (Martha) in The Children’s Hour, at the Coronet Theatre, 1952 (revival). (Photo by Eileen Darby. Reprinted with permission from the John Willis Theatre World/Screen World Archive.)
The Children’s Hour was first produced on Broadway at Maxine Elliot’s Theatre on November 20, 1934. It was produced and directed by Herman Shumlin, and the settings were designed by Aline Bernstein.
Cast
(in order of their appearance)
| Peggy Rogers | Eugenia Rawls |
| Mrs. Lily Mortar | Aline McDermott |
| Evelyn Munn | Elizabeth Seckel |
| Helen Burton | Lynne Fisher |
| Lois Fisher | Jaqueline Rusling |
| Catherine | Barbara Leeds |
| Rosalie Wells | Barbara Beals |
| Mary Tilford | Florence McGee |
| Karen Wright | Katherine Emery |
| Martha Dobie | Anne Revere |
| Doctor Joseph Cardin | Robert Keith |
| Agatha | Edmonia Nolley |
| Mrs. Amelia Tilford | Katherine Emmet |
| A Grocery Boy | Jack Tyler |
A note on the text: In 1972, Little, Brown, and Company published a volume by Lillian Hellman entitled The Collected Plays, which included a “Publisher’s Note” stating “For this edition Miss Hellman has made numerous small revisions and emendations in each of the plays: the texts as given here are henceforth to be regarded as definitive.” This version of The Children’s Hour is taken from that 1972 edition.
for Dashiell Hammett with thanks