 A 1923 book, "Public Speaking Today", recommends it for performance by high school students alongside "The Importance of Being Earnest" and "The Rivals".In 1922, the play was adapted as a comic opera by Reginald Somerville and played at the Queen's Theatre.The play was evidently written in 1856, after Robertson saw a French theatre troupe performing "Sullivan"; but the new play was rejected by every theatre manager Robertson took it to.