Editing Lady Windermere's Fan (section)

==Productions==

===Premiere===
[[File:Winifred Emery as Lady Windermere in Lady Windermere's Fan, 1892.jpg|thumb|right|160px|[[Winifred Emery]] as Lady Windermere, 1892]]
The premiere at the [[St James's Theatre]] was followed by a famous speech by Wilde. When Wilde answered the calls of "Author!" and appeared before the curtains after the third act, critics were more offended by the cigarette in his hand than his ironically egotistic speech:
<blockquote>
Ladies and Gentlemen. I have enjoyed this evening ''immensely''. The actors have given us a ''charming'' rendering of a ''delightful'' play, and your appreciation has been most intelligent. I congratulate you on the ''great'' success of your performance, which persuades me that you think ''almost'' as highly of the play as I do myself.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://oscarwildeinamerica.blog/2018/03/24/anatomy-of-a-cartoon/|title=Anatomy of a Cartoon, the story of Oscar Wilde's Infamous Curtain Call|last=Cooper|first=John|work=Oscar Wilde in America Blog|date=24 March 2018 |access-date=2018-03-24}}</ref>
</blockquote>
[[File:Eul ms 202 1894 11 theatre royal playbill.jpg|alt=A pale green playbill with black lettering advertising a performance of Lady Windermere's Fan at the Theatre Royal, Exeter, on 2 April 1894|thumb|Playbill from the Theatre Royal, Exeter, advertising a performance of ''Lady Windermere's Fan'' on 2 April 1894.]]
Mrs Erlynne was originated by [[Marion Terry]], and Lady Windermere by [[Lily Hanbury]], who was succeeded after a few performances by [[Winifred Emery]].<ref>John Bouve Clapp & Edwin Francis Edgett, Plays of the Present (Dunlap Society, 1902) p. 147</ref> The play's Broadway première on 5 February 1893 at [[Albert Marshman Palmer|Palmer's Theatre]] was also the first Broadway performance for stage and screen actress [[Julia Arthur]], who played Lady Windermere in that production.