I can't help it if you were careless with your cigarette case. I was extremely careful with your heart Constance has everything. A loving family, a beautiful home, a fulfilling career, and a husband as devoted to her as he is to his mistress. When her perfect set up is threatened, Constance fights back but refuses to play by the rules. Can she withstand society's expectations? And can society withstand the force of a woman determined to do things her own way? Laura Wade ( Posh, Rivals ) reunites with RSC Co-Artistic Director Tamara Harvey ( Pericles ) after their Olivier Award-winning collaboration, Home, I'm Darling , to reimagine Somerset Maugham's subversive comedy, The Constant Wife, in a sparkling new version. This edition was published to coincide with the RSC production at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, in June 2025. W(illiam) Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) British playwright, novelist, and short-story writer, who in 1908 had four plays running simultaneously in the West End, a record at that time. The plays were Lady Frederick at the Court Theatre, Jack Straw at the Vaudeville Theatre, Mrs Dot at the Comedy Theatre, and The Explorer at the Lyric Theatre. His work was noted for its clear style, solid construction, and shrewd perception of human nature. Between 1898 and 1933 Maugham wrote 27 plays; the first to be produced was Man of Honour in 1904. His successes included Our Betters (1917), a satire on US social-climbers, Home and Beauty (1919), The Circle (1921), East of Suez (1922), The Constant Wife (1926), and the anti-war play For Services Rendered (1932). After the comparative failure of Sheppey , directed by Gielgud in 1933, Maugham decided that he had lost touch with public taste and gave up writing for the theatre. Several of his short stories have been adapted by others for the stage, notably Miss Thompson , dramatized as Rain (1922) by John Colton and Clemence Randolph. Laura Wade 's plays include The Watsons (Chichester Festival Theatre and Menier Chocolate Factory), Home, I'm Darling (Theatr Clwyd, National Theatre and West End), Posh (Royal Court Theatre and West End), Tipping the Velvet (Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith), Alice (Crucible Theatre, Sheffield), Kreutzer vs. Kreutzer (Globe Theatre, Sydney Opera House and Australian tour), Other Hands (Soho Theatre), Colder Than Here (Soho Theatre and MCC Theatre New York), Breathing Corpses (Royal Court Theatre), Catch (Royal Court Theatre, written with four other playwrights), Young Emma (Finborough Theatre), 16 Winters (Bristol Old Vic Basement) and Limbo (Crucible Studio Theatre, Sheffield). Films include The Riot Club . Awards include the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy, Critics' Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright, the Pearson Best Play Award and the George Devine Award. Laura Wade's plays have been performed in the UK, USA, Australia, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands and Mexico.