Merely Mary Ann (play)

Merely Mary Ann is a 1903 play by British author Israel Zangwill. It is based on his own work of the same name, written in 1893 and later included in The Grey Wig (1903). It has four acts and three settings. The story explores the changing relationship between the younger son of a baronet, who has forsaken inheritance for composing, and an orphaned country girl, now working in a cheap London lodging house.

The play was produced by Liebler & Company, with staging by Charles Cartwright. It starred Eleanor Robson, with Edwin Arden, Ada Dwyer and Laura Hope Crews. After a two-month opening tour, it premiered on Broadway during late December 1903 and ran continuously until May 1904. It was a popular success, and helped Liebler & Company recover the money they had lost on Zangwill's Children of the Ghetto.

Liebler & Company's Merely Mary Ann opened in London during September 1904, with Eleanor Robson and Ada Dwyer but otherwise a local supporting cast. It ran for over one hundred performances, ceasing on December 15, 1904, because Eleanor Robson had to sail the next day to keep touring commitments in America. It was during this run that George Bernard Shaw first saw and met Eleanor Robson and determined to write Major Barbara with her in mind.

Eleanor Robson and Ada Dwyer reprised their roles for a brief Broadway revival starting February 1907, playing Wednesday matinees in repertory with another Liebler & Company production, Salomy Jane, in which they both starred. There were three film adaptations with the same title, but which according to stage producer George C. Tyler had little in common with the play.