| Magic: A Fantastic Comedy In a Prelude and Three Acts | |
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&sq=Facebook&lang=en&file=File:Magia_di_Chesterton,_I_ed.jpeg) First edition cover | |
| Written by | G. K. Chesterton |
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| Date premiered | 7 November 1913 |
| Place premiered | The Little Theatre |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Comedy |
| Setting | England |
Magic: A Fantastic Comedy In a Prelude and Three Acts is a 1913 comedy play by the English writer G. K. Chesterton. The plot centres around the conflict between a conjurer, a young woman who believes he is really magic, and her arrogant brother who rationalises everything. When the conjurer begins to do tricks that the brother cannot explain, he begins to go insane and the young woman and the other characters – a wealthy duke, a family doctor, and a local priest – attempt to convince the conjurer to divulge how the tricks were done in the hopes of curing him of his madness.
The play was written after George Bernard Shaw pestered Chesterton for several years to write a play, believing that Chesterton's style would be successful on stage. Produced by Kenelm Foss, the play premiered at the Little Theatre in London on 7 November and received positive reviews from audiences; Chesterton was reportedly nearly mobbed in the lobby of the theatre by an adulatory audience following the show's first performance. Critical reviews were similarly positive, praising Chesterton's choice of colour instead music for dramatic effect and his ability to create an atmosphere that evoked evil throughout the play.
The play was successful and published by the end of the year, though Chesterton himself saw little of the profits. It was performed over a hundred times in the United Kingdom and the United States. Despite this success, Magic is considered to be Chesterton's "one and only play", due to the lack of drama in his other published stage works; only one of his other plays was ever staged during his lifetime.