Liam O'Brien's comedy, based on a real nineteenth-century Pennsylvania scandal, centers on Horace Pennypacker, an outwardly respectable Reading businessman whose family is thrown into an uproar after his death reveals that he secretly maintained two separate wives and two separate households in the same town for years, fathering a large brood of children with each without either family suspecting the other's existence. As the two Mrs. Pennypackers and their children collide and try to make sense of the deception, the play mines both scandal and surprising warmth from Horace's double life, suggesting a man torn between duty and desire rather than a simple villain. Its blend of Victorian-era social comedy and genuine sentiment made it a popular stage and film property (adapted into the 1959 film of the same name starring Clifton Webb) and a favorite for community theaters drawn to its large ensemble of period roles.

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