Our Boys

This article is about Our Boys, the 1875 play. For other uses, see Our Boys (disambiguation).

Scene from Our Boys
Cover of script, c. 1880

Our Boys is a comedy in three acts written by Henry James Byron, first performed in London on 16 January 1875 at the Vaudeville Theatre. Until it was surpassed by the run of Charley's Aunt in the 1890s, it was the world's longest-running play, up to that time, with 1,362 performances until April 1879.[1] Theatre owner David James (1839–93) was Perkyn in the production. The production also toured extensively.[2] The play contains the famous line, "Life’s too short for chess."[3]

The piece played in New York in 1875, at the New Fifth Avenue Theatre,[4] and in 1907 at the Lyric Theatre.[5] It also played in Philadelphia.[6] Arthur Williams appeared in a 1914 London revival of the piece.

  1. ^ Booth, Michael R. Review of plays by H. J. Byron including Our Boys in The Modern Language Review, Vol. 82, No. 3, pp. 716-17 (July 1987; Modern Humanities Research Association)
  2. ^ Pascoe, Charles Eyre (13 February 1880). "Our actors and actresses. The dramatic list". David Bogue. Retrieved 13 February 2024 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ "Chess Notes by Edward Winter". www.chesshistory.com. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  4. ^ "Our Boys – Broadway Play – Original | IBDB". Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  5. ^ "Our Boys – Broadway Play – 1907 Revival | IBDB". Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  6. ^ "Philadelphia production mentioned". home.comcast.net. Retrieved 13 February 2024.