It was the first English-language production of the play, starred future husband-and-wife team Laurence Olivier and Joan Plowright, and was directed by Orson Welles.

In March 1960, Welles's play Chimes at Midnight had just closed after an unsuccessful run in Dublin, dashing his hopes of transferring to London.

In later years, he admitted to one biographer that he had been mainly motivated by the chance to work with Olivier, whom he had long admired, but that he thought "It's a terrible play.

"[2] In this production, the play was relocated from a busy Paris street to a London pub, with a highly elaborate set filled with swinging doors, trapdoors, television monitors, trick mirrors, and advanced special effects.

Accordingly, at the opening night, Welles rigged up a microphone on the right-hand aisle of the dress circle, sat there, apologised to the audience for the experience of theatre never being complete, and then during the performance he proceeded to give lighting directions and instructions to the actors, i.e. "Louder, louder...Take down the music...Now lift the curtain...Now, now.

[7] Despite the chaos behind the scenes, the production received strong reviews, with Olivier's performance being singled out, and its run was extended from the initial five weeks that had been booked.

The play premiered in Chicago in January 2000, and has subsequently had numerous revivals in Britain and America, most notably in an off-Broadway production directed by David Cromer in 2005 which ran to 349 performances.