# Why Men Leave Home

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{{about|the 1922 play|the 1924 play based on the film|Why Men Leave Home (film)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
[[File:"Why men leave home" by Avery Hopwood LCCN98516874.jpg|thumb|upright|[WPA](/source/Works_Progress_Administration) poster for Hopwood's 1922 play ''Why Men Leave Home'']]
'''''Why Men Leave Home''''' is a play in three acts by [Avery Hopwood](/source/Avery_Hopwood).<ref name="NYT">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1922/09/13/archives/why-men-leave-home-told-in-hopwood-play-firstnight-audience-enjoys.html|title='WHY MEN LEAVE HOME' TOLD IN HOPWOOD PLAY; First-Night Audience Enjoys New Production at the Morosco Theatre.|work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)|date=September 13, 1922|page= 15}}</ref> It was adapted into the 1924 [silent film](/source/silent_film) ''[Why Men Leave Home](/source/Why_Men_Leave_Home_(film))''.

==Plot==
''Why Men Leave Home'' is set on [Long Island](/source/Long_Island) at the country estate of married couple Tom and Fifi Morgan. Tom is lonely and depressed because his wife has been gallivanting across Europe all summer without him, and his not once sent communication back home. He expresses his troubles to his grandmother, and in the midst of doing so Fifi arrives back home. Tom is at first overjoyed, but is quickly upset once again when he discovers Fifi has invited two of traveling companions, Nina and Betty, to stay the weekend. Nina and Betty also bring their neglected husbands with them, and comedy of errors, including a [bedroom farce](/source/bedroom_farce) involving infidelity, ensues.{{sfn|Sharrar|1989|page=154}}

==Performance history==
''Why Men Leave Home'' premiered at the [Apollo Theatre](/source/Apollo_Theatre_(Atlantic_City%2C_New_Jersey)) in [Atlantic City, New Jersey](/source/Atlantic_City%2C_New_Jersey) on July 24, 1922.<ref>{{cite news|title=Why Men Leave Home|work=[Atlantic City Gazette-Review](/source/Atlantic_City_Gazette-Review)|date= July 24, 1922|page= 6}}</ref> It then played at the [Belasco Theatre](/source/Lafayette_Square_Opera_House) in [Washington D.C.](/source/Washington_D.C.)<ref>{{cite news|title=Belasco- "Why Men Leave Home"|work=[The Evening Star](/source/The_Evening_Star)|date= August 30, 1922|page= 19}}</ref> before transferring to [Broadway](/source/Broadway_theatre)'s [Morosco Theatre](/source/Morosco_Theatre) where it opened on September 12, 1922.<ref name="NYT"/> The production was produced by Wagenhals and Kemper and starred John McFarlane as Tom and [Florence Shirley](/source/Florence_Shirley) as Fifi.{{sfn|Mantle|1923|page=452}} Others in the cast included [Teresa Maxwell-Conover](/source/Teresa_Maxwell-Conover) as Nina, Paul Everton as Sam, Audrey Hart as Betty, Norval Keedwell as Billy, [Isabel Leighton](/source/Isabel_Leighton) as Sybil, Wauna Loraine as Doris, [Herbert Yost](/source/Herbert_Yost) as Artie, Jessie Villars as Grandma, [Minor Watson](/source/Minor_Watson) as the Butler, and Peggy Lytton as the Maid.<ref name="NYT"/> The Broadway run closed in January 1923 after 135 performances.{{sfn|Mantle|1923|page=586}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
*{{cite book|title=The Best Plays of 1922-1923|year=1923|editor-first=Burns|editor-last=Mantle|publisher=[Dodd, Mead & Co.](/source/Dodd%2C_Mead_%26_Co.)|editor-link=Burns Mantle|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jWZ21XQrmz8C&q=%22why%20men%20leave%20home%22|chapter=Why Men Leave Home}}
*{{cite book|title=Avery Hopwood: His Life and Plays|last=Sharrar|first= Jack F.|publisher=[University of Michigan Press](/source/University_of_Michigan_Press)|year= 1989 |isbn=9780472109630}}

==External links==
*{{IBDB show|id=9354}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1922 plays
Category:Broadway plays
Category:Plays by Avery Hopwood
Category:Plays set on Long Island

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Why Men Leave Home](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_Men_Leave_Home) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_Men_Leave_Home?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.