Whilst it failed to gather the same positive critical reception, and did not reach the success of the predecessor, it still ran for 138 performances in London before setting out on a regional tour.
The play was written by George R. Sims based on his own novel, Rogues and Vagabonds,[1] in collaboration with Wilson Barrett, who was the producer of the stage production.
[2] There was a significant PR campaign in the run-up to the opening night, including enticing real gypsies to the centre of London, who encamped in a park, as well large pictures depicting a midnight murder on the Thames, and a shipwreck.
[5] Critics compared the play unfavorably to The Lights o' London, which was by the same author, producer, company, and at the same theatre immediately before The Romany Rye.
The Romany Rye was a major plot point in the 2005 historic detective novel Dead Fall by Joan Lock, in her Inspector Best series, incorporating elements from the real-world staging and characters.