Common Clay (play)

Common Clay
Jane Cowl and Orme Caldara
Written by	Cleves Kinkead
Directed by	Al Roberts (Boston) Byron Ongley (Broadway)
Date premiered	August 26, 1915
Place premiered	Theatre Republic
Original language	English
Subject	Injustice towards women
Genre	Drama
Setting	Fullerton Home; Filson's Law Office; Police Court Room

Common Clay is a 1914 play by Cleves Kinkead. Its structure varied by production: it started with a prologue, three acts and an epilogue. The prologue was later dropped, and still later, the epilogue was converted to a fourth act. It has three settings, and fourteen characters. The story concerns the dismissal of a young servant when she becomes pregnant by her employer's son, and her subsequent fight for justice. The action of the play spans ten years time. The play won the John Craig Prize, also referred to as the Harvard Prize, given annually to the best work produced in conjunction with George Pierce Baker's playwriting workshop at Harvard.

The play was first produced by John Craig and Cleves Kinkead, staged by Al Roberts, and featured members of Craig's stock company, including Mary Young and Alfred Lunt. The opening engagement at Boston started in January 1915 and ran through to early May, for 204 performances.

A. H. Woods acquired the rights to produce Common Clay for Broadway from Craig and Kincaid. Byron Ongley restaged it, while the stars were Jane Cowl and John Mason. The play made its Broadway premiere in August 1915, running through to June 1916, for 330 performances.

The play was never revived on Broadway, but was adapted for a 1919 silent film, a 1930 early sound film, and a 1936 movie called Private Number.