sentences:  It was first performed in 1912 by Annie Horniman's Gaiety Theatre company, originally in Manchester and then in London and on Broadway.The character Fanny Hawthorn was played by Edyth Goodall in the original production.It was a controversial piece at the time it was first produced, and provoked a prolonged correspondence in the "Pall Mall Gazette" in which both the author, Stanley Houghton, and the original actress participated, with many correspondents questioning whether the play's treatment of non-marital sex would set a bad example.