Hedda Gabler Munich at the Königliches Residenz-Theater on 31 January 1891, with Clara Heese as Hedda, though Ibsen was said to be displeased with the declamatory style of her performance. Ibsen’s work had an international following, so that translations and productions in various countries appeared very soon after the publication in Copenhagen and the premiere in Munich. In February 1891 there were two productions: Berlin and Copenhagen. The first British performance was at the Vaudeville Theatre, London, on 20 April 1891, starring Elizabeth Robins, who directed it with Marion Lea, who played Thea. Robins also played Hedda in the first US production,
The Play What I Wrote Squeeze for the Scarlet Pimple", the "play within a play" (with a cameo by a mystery guest star) which formed the play's second half. It is named after the "play wot I wrote", the inept play supposedly written by Wise and featuring a celebrity guest which formed the finale to each Morecambe and Wise show. In "The Play What I Wrote", "Sean" writes a similarly inept play and is humoured by "Hamish" in the first half by having it performed. As in the Morecambe and Wise antecedent, the celebrity would play him or herself set up to appear, rather foolishly,