Aet. 41, to a Scottish drama critic. In the Speaker (6 May 1893) A.B. Walkley objected to the Independent Theatre Society production of Allan’s Wife at Terry’s Theatre (28 April 1893). William Archer defended the play and the production in the Speaker (13 May 1893). Walkley insisted, causing Archer to publish his letter “A.B.W. and Alan’s Wife,” in the Speaker (27 May 1893).
The one-act play Alan’s Wife (1893) was written by Elizabeth Robins and Florence Bell, based on a story by H. Rider Haggard. Archer’s letter about it also praised Henrik Ibsen’s The Master Builder, which opened in London in February 1893.
In his review of A Woman of No Importance in the World (26 April 1893), William Archer ranked Oscar Wilde as the greatest living English dramatist.
George Bernard Shaw’s first play Widowers’ Houses had been staged by the Independent Theatre Society (9 December 1892). It was derived from a scenario by Archer, based on the play Ceinture Dorée (1855) by Émile Augier and Édouard Foussier.
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