The Christian (1898 play)

The Christian is an 1898 play written by British author Hall Caine. It is a drama, with a prologue and four acts. Caine insisted the play was not an adaptation of his 1896 novel of the same name, but rather a new story using the same principal characters. It was more a romance than the theological drama of the novel, as an Anglican vicar of a slum parish in 1890s London tries to persuade a music hall performer to give up her career.

It was first produced by Liebler & Company, with staging by Walter Clark Bellows, sets by Louis Young, music by William Furst, and starring Viola Allen. It ran on Broadway from October 1898 through March 1899, averaging over $15,000 per week at the box office. Liebler & Company sent out two touring companies to play venues around the United States. The tours were very successful, netting Liebler & Company a half-million dollars over the next few years, enabling it to produce plays with less commercial appeal, such as Children of the Ghetto.