Clarence (play)

Clarence
Alfred Lunt (1919)
Written by	Booth Tarkington
Directed by	Frederick Stanhope
Date premiered	September 20, 1919
Place premiered	Hudson Theatre
Original language	English
Subject	Discharged soldier mends problems
Genre	Comedy
Setting	Mr. Wheeler's office in New York, and his home in Englewood, New Jersey

Clarence is a 1919 play by Booth Tarkington. It is a four-act comedy with two settings and eleven characters. The story concerns an ailing recently discharged soldier who is given a handyman job by a financial tycoon because he has overheard family gossip in the tycoon's waiting room. Tarkington wrote the play with Alfred Lunt in mind, after having seen him perform in his earlier work, The Country Cousin.

The play was first produced by George C. Tyler, staged by Frederick Stanhope, and starred Lunt with Elsie MacKay, Helen Hayes, and Glen Hunter in support. It had a one-week tryout in Atlantic City during July 1919, before it premiered on Broadway during September 1919 and ran through June 1920 for 323 performances. It was the breakout role for Alfred Lunt, establishing him as a Broadway star, and for Tarkington provided proof he could write a critically successful play. For the 19-year-old Helen Hayes it was another acclaimed step in her ascent to becoming the "First Lady of American Theatre".

While still in its Broadway run, a second company for Clarence was launched in Chicago during January 1920 by producer Tyler. The play was never revived on Broadway, but was adapted for a 1922 silent film and a 1937 sound movie.