The Chalk Garden

New York: Random House. Near Fine in Very Good dj. (c.1956). First Edition. Hardcover. [light wear to lower extremities; jacket browned at spine (as typical with RH plays of this period), miniscule chipping at spine ends]. (B&W photographs) Comedy about an elderly eccentric and her disturbed, pyromaniacal granddaughter, the latter looked after by a governess with a green thumb and a mysterious past. The original 1955 Broadway production starred (in the respective roles) Gladys Cooper, Betsy von Furstenburg and Siobhan McKenna, and ran for 182 performances; a West End (London) production the following year featured Edith Evans, Judith Stott and Peggy Ashcroft; Evans repeated her role in the 1964 film version, with Hayley Mills and Deborah Kerr stepping into the roles of the granddaughter and the governess. There have also been several revivals, notably Off-Broadway in 1982 and at London's Donmar Warehouse in 2008. .