Wives Have Their Uses Explained

Wives Have Their Uses
Place:Sydney, Australia
Orig Lang:English
Subject:marriage
Genre:comedy

Wives Have Their Uses is a 1938 Australian stage play by Gwen Meredith. It is a comedy.

The Sydney Morning Herald called it " one of the wittiest, most entertaining and best constructed comedies by an Australian author. With this initial full-length effort, Miss Meredith enters the front rank of Australian playwrights; for in no way is her work amateurish or derivative. It is not only keenly humorous and possesses a definite intelligent trend, but has a good psychological basis for its sparkling dialogue."[1]

Leslie Rees argued the play "seemed to break new ground — in Australia at any rate — with its Maughamesque wit and comedy of divorce."[2]

The play was performed around Australia in amateur theatres and helped launch Meredith's career.[3]

Wives Have Their Uses was published in book form at a time when that was rare for Australian plays.

Premise

A philandering husband has to deal with his wife at a resort.

Notes and References

  1. News: Witty Comedy. . . 31,481 . New South Wales, Australia . 24 November 1938 . 24 July 2023 . 5 . National Library of Australia.
  2. Book: Rees, Leslie. Towards an Australian Drama. 124. 1953.
  3. News: The Drama in Australia. . . 55 . 16,553 . Western Australia . 22 July 1939 . 24 July 2023 . 5 . National Library of Australia.