| The Barretts of Wimpole Street | |
|---|---|
 First US edition 1930s | |
| Written by | Rudolf Besier |
| Date premiered | 20 August 1930 |
| Place premiered | Malvern Festival, Malvern, Worcestershire |
| Setting | Elizabeth Barrett's bed-sitting-room at 50 Wimpole Street, London, in 1845 |
The Barretts of Wimpole Street is a 1930 play by the Dutch/English dramatist Rudolf Besier, based on the romance between Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett, and her domineering father's unwillingness to allow them to marry. Presented first at the Malvern Festival in August 1930, the play transferred to the West End, where it ran for 528 performances. An American production, produced by and starring Katharine Cornell, opened in 1931 and ran on Broadway for 370 performances. The play has subsequently been revived onstage and adapted for television and the cinema.
The play caused some protests from the descendants of one of the central characters, Edward Moulton-Barrett, objecting to what they saw as his depiction as a depraved monster, although the author and original director denied that the play did so.