J. M. (James Matthew) Barrie
Quality Street: A Comedy
"Quality Street: A Comedy" by J. M. Barrie is a play written before Peter Pan and first performed in 1901. Set during the Napoleonic era, it follows Miss Phoebe Throssel, who waits ten years for Valentine Brown to return from war. Now an aging schoolmistress, she creates a flirtatious alter ego named Miss Livvy to recapture his attention. This clever disguise succeeds too well, leading to complications at a local ball and forcing Phoebe to confront questions of identity, love, and what truly matters in romance.