The story concerns a dethroned family of minor Germanic royalty, whose head hopes to marry her daughter (the Swan) to a crown prince, but runs into trouble by ill-using her sons' tutor.

Though a comedy, the story contains tragic undercurrents, in the emotional suffering of the tutor and the futile dynastic scheming in the face of the coming Great War.

It was staged by David Burton, and starred Eva Le Gallienne with Basil Rathbone, Philip Merivale, Hilda Spong, and Halliwell Hobbes.

Dr. Agi has finished a lesson on Napoleon for Princes George and Arsene, who remind their tutor of their mother's antipathy for the Usurper.

Princess Alexandra comes in from her daily ride, and Father Hyancinth perceives Agi's suppressed feelings for her.

While Agi leads the boys away to don their fencing gear, Beatrice suggests Albert may wish to inspect Alexandra's rose garden.

But Albert is distracted by Col Wunderlich's talk of a modern dairy farm, and sets off with him and Count Luzen to inspect it.

But she obeys, and the startled Agi is suffused with unexpected emotion as he realizes the Princess Alexandra is asking him personally to attend the ball.

Her nerves are stretched taut, both over the uncertainty of the scheme and the local notables seeing Alexandra associate with the tutor in the ballroom.

The effects of the heady vintage hit Agi hard, and he soon rises to the bait of Albert's patronizing tone, responding with words that verge on insult.

Maria has not yet spoken with her son, so Father Hyacinth informs her of the previous night's doing, in such a way as to secure her sympathy for Alexandra.

(Curtain) Molnár's play Launzi had been launched on Broadway under Arthur Hopkins two weeks before The Swan, with an adaptation by Edna St. Vincent Millay,[fn 6] scenic design by Robert Edmond Jones, and starring Pauline Lord.

Critics were severe with Hopkins' staging, but Molnár's subject matter, madness due to unrequited love, was also thought morbid and unpopular.

The local reviewer assumed that the setting was the Dual monarchy, and highlighted Molnar's contrasting "the rigid etiquette of such a household" as that of Princess Beatrice with the "human foibles, motives, affectations and antipathies by which his characters are swayed".

Critic Arthur Pollock was wholly positive about the production: "It is a golden play, pure, clear, graceful, witty, wise... beautifully staged and superbly acted".

[16] John Corbin in The New York Times said Molnar had "triumphed in romantic high comedy last night, as he has in so many and varied genres".

[18] Metcalfe in The Wall Street Journal remarked: "It is hard to believe that The Swan and the late lamented Launzi are from the pen of the same Molnar.

[19] In his syndicated column, Alexander Woollcott said The Swan was among the half-dozen best comedies he had seen in ten years of drama reporting, a credit to the author, cast, producer Gilbert Miller, and director David Burton.

[21] By early January 1924 the producers announced The Swan had twice broken box office records for gross receipts at the Cort Theatre.

The production starred Eva Le Gallienne, with Basil Rathbone, Alice John, and Henry Warwick from the cast of The Swan among the players.