To Dorothy, a Son

To Dorothy, a Son is a 1950 comedy play by the British writer Roger MacDougall. The plot revolves around a complex inheritance in which the American ex-wife of a man tries to prevent his current pregnant wife giving birth before a certain day, in order that she can claim the money.

To Dorothy, a Son
Written by	Roger MacDougall
Date premiered	11 September 1950
Place premiered	Theatre Royal, Nottingham
Original language	English
Genre	Comedy
Setting	A cottage in Surrey, present day

It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham before it transferred to London's West End where it ran for 515 performances between 23 November 1950 and 16 February 1952 initially at the Savoy Theatre before moving to the Garrick Theatre. The original London cast included Richard Attenborough, Sheila Sim, Yolande Donlan and Gwenda Wilson. A Broadway version at the John Golden Theatre lasted for just 8 performances in 1951.

It was revived in 1976 with Leslie Phillips and Amanda Barrie in the cast.

Film adaptation

In 1954 it was made into the film To Dorothy a Son directed by Muriel Box and starring Shelley Winters, John Gregson and Peggy Cummins.

Bibliography

• Goble, Alan. The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter, 1999.
• Wearing, J.P. The London Stage 1950-1959: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014.