1935: The Old Ladies
The English playwright Rodney Ackland took on the stage adaptation of Hugh’s book The Old Ladies in 1935.
It opened in London at The New Theatre in St Martin’s Lane on the 2nd of April 1935. Hugh went to a rehearsal of the play but apparently slept all the time he was there and decided to leave them to it, however Hugh did attend the successful first night and hailed it a success.
The play begins in the run up to Christmas. In the city of Polchester, three old ladies rent an old run down house, including Miss Beringer, who had just moved in. Miss Beringer has a rather nervous disposition, and makes friends with Mrs Amorest, one of the neighbours.
When she meets one of the tenants, she finds her an odd woman who takes too much of an interest in Miss Beringer’s prized possession, an amber figurine.