From 1912 to 1917, Barrymore was away from the stage again while he established his film career, but after the First World War, he had several successes on Broadway, where he established his reputation as a dramatic and character actor, often performing together with his wife. He returned to the stage in "Peter Ibbetson" (1917) with his brother John and achieved star billing in "The Copperhead" (1918) (with Doris). He retained star billing for the next 6 years in plays such as "The Jest" (1919) (again with John) and "The Letter of the Law" (1920). Lionel gave a short-lived performance as MacBeth in 1921 opposite veteran actress Julia Arthur as Lady MacBeth, but the production encountered strongly negative criticism. His last stage success was in "Laugh, Clown, Laugh", in 1923, with his second wife, Irene Fenwick; they met while acting together in "The Claw" the previous year, and after they fell in love he divorced his first wife. He also received negative notices in three productions in a row in 1925. After appearing in "Man or Devil" in 1926, he signed a film contract with MGM and after the advent of sound films in 1927, he never again appeared on stage.