Opening on 12 October1925 at the Morosco Theatre, the Pulitzer PRizE-winning drama by George Kelly ran for 360 performances. Chrystal Herne played Harriet Craig, an obsessive, controlling woman who cares more for her tidy home and its furnishings than for the people in her life. At the end of act 2, Mr. Craig defiantly smashes a mantelpiece ornament, lights a cigarette and throws the match into the fireplace, and sits in the living room to smoke. In act 3, the next day, he leaves her, as do her relatives and servants. Mrs. Craig will have her house all to herself alone.
The Historical Dictionary of the American Theater. James Fisher.