Suddenly Dick Stanhope, the beau ideal of this social circle, appears escorting "Marion",[fn 1] who wears a chic new dress straight from Manhattan, and has a sophisticated new hairstyle.

The whole crowd has gathered at the Simmonds' home to celebrate Mary Anne's return from France, where she had volunteered as a Salvation Army canteen worker.

(Curtain) Producer George C. Tyler and his financial backer, Abe Erlanger,[1] had great success with the staging of Pollyanna in 1916, largely because of two young actresses.

[2] Collinge proved more popular in the Midwest, with a long run in Chicago for Tillie, while Hayes was the darling of East Coast critics,[3][fn 2] with roles in the American adaptation of Dear Brutus, Clarence, and Bab.

It was a Cinderella type story, coupled with casual interactions among young people and a nod to American involvement during the recently ended Great War.

The play, staged by Frederick Stanhope, was given a weeks tryout at Nixon's Apollo Theatre in Atlantic City, New Jersey starting July 28, 1919.

[4][6] An interview of author Sidney Toler soon after the tryout mentioned he had written "seven successful plays" including The Golden Age in the past two years.

No more is heard of The Golden Age until November 1919, when a musical comedy by that name, produced by F. Ray Comstock and Morris Gest, written by Guy Bolton and Jerome Kern and starring Harry Fox, was reported to be starting rehearsals in Manhattan.

[8] Cast during the 1919 Atlantic City tryout According to critic Percy Hammond, author Kenneth Grahame objected to the original title lest it be mistaken for his 1895 work The Golden Age.

With Patricia Collinge now cast as the lead, Golden Days had one private and two public "dress rehearsals" at The Oliver, a theater in South Bend, Indiana, on March 20, 1920.

The youthfulness of the plays characters was emphasized in this college town,[12] while a local reviewer mentioned Collinge's voice still retained a slight hint of her Dublin origin.

[13] Her leading man, Norval Keedwell, was considered "most satifactory" as was the supporting cast, while the plot limitations were overlooked in favor of its lack of vulgar suggestion.

Critic Percy Hammond recognized the charm of Patricia Collinge's performance but was dismissive of the play, calling it "a crude little knick-knack" cobbled together for the purpose of idolizing the leading lady.

[18] Principal cast only during the 1920 tryout and the Chicago engagement Tired of flapper parts, Hayes had convinced Tyler to let her play a different kind of role in The Wren during October 1921.

[24] The play was withdrawn after three weeks on Broadway, being immediately replaced at the same theater by Golden Days which Tyler had been keeping on ice for a year, with Hayes again in the lead.

He complimented Hayes' on her restraint with the character of Mary Anne, and said Donald Gallaher was the only actor to "rise above the level of prep school boys".

[27] The critic for The New York Herald reassured its readers that though filled with youthful characters "the wickedest thing the striplings do is smoke cigarettes, and the girls haven't even particularly short skirts".

[28] The New-York Tribune reviewer numerated six costume changes by Helen Hayes in four acts, and remarked upon her returning to "the sub-deb type she forswore in The Wren".

[21] The critic for The New York Times pointed out Toler and Short's writing captured the essence of young people's conversation, for both good and ill.