Independent Means is a stage play written by Stanley Houghton, a leading member of the Manchester School of dramatists.
The play was Houghton's first professional full-length play which was written in 1908. Its first title was The Unemployed, but this was changed to avoid confusion with a one-act play with a similar title. It was chosen by Annie Horniman to open the second season at the Gaiety Theatre, Manchester, on 30 August 1909. It was an immediate success and was chosen to open the next two seasons, and it was published in 1911. It was broadcast by Granada Television in 1960.[1] Otherwise the play remained unknown until it was "discovered" in the British Library by Chris Honer, artistic director of the Library Theatre, Manchester. It was decided to produce the play at the Library Theatre in 2008 to celebrate the centenary of the Gaiety Theatre.[2]