Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman (play)

Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman
Kyrle Bellew as Raffles (1903)
Written by	Eugene W. Presbrey and E. W. Hornung
Based on	The Amateur Cracksman by E. W. Hornung
Directed by	Eugene W. Presbrey
Date premiered	October 27, 1903 (1903-10-27)
Place premiered	Princess Theatre
Original language	English
Subject	Theft as sport
Genre	Drama
Setting	Lord Amersteth's country home and Raffles' apartment in London

Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman is a 1903 play written by Eugene W. Presbrey and E. W. Hornung, based on two of Hornung's short stories from The Amateur Cracksman. It also draws one of its characters from an 1886 play called Jim the Penman, by Charles Young. It has four acts, and two settings. The story concerns a gentleman jewel thief who steals as much for excitement as necessity, and the efforts of a detective to catch him.

The play was first produced by Liebler & Company, staged by Eugene W. Presbrey, with settings by Gates and Morange, and starred Kyrle Bellew. It had a tryout and some limited engagements starting in September 1903, before premiering on Broadway during October 1903. The production ran for 168 performances through March 1904, before prior scheduling commitments forced it to close.

The play had a brief Broadway revival in 1910, and was later adapted for silent films of the same title in 1917 and 1925.