The Children's Hour (Play)

About

The Children's Hour is a play by celebrated American playwright Lillian Hellman that premiered on Broadway in 1934 and is generally considered to be one of Hellman's greatest works. Particularly controversial for the era in which it was written, The Children's Hour details the plight of two headmistresses at an all-girl's school who find their careers and social standing being destroyed by a disgruntled student who informs her grandmother that the two women are having a lesbian affair. Despite a New York state law that forbade the mention of homosexuality on stage at the time, Hellman's play was so successful with audiences and critics that no one even considered raising the issue. Since then, the play has been revived several times, on top of being adapted into a critically acclaimed 1961 film staring Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine in the roles of the two headmistresses.