A Bill of Divorcement: A Play in Three Acts

by Clemence Dane

"A Bill of Divorcement: A Play in Three Acts" by Clemence Dane is a play first performed in 1921. Set in the early 1930s, the drama explores a controversial scenario: a woman divorcing her long-institutionalized husband to remarry. Their daughter must care for her father while confronting the possibility that his mental illness may be hereditary. The play imagines a future Britain where divorce is permitted on grounds of incurable insanity—a provocative premise that captivated audiences on both sides of the Atlantic and inspired three film adaptations.