Mr. Pim Passes By

Mr. Pim Passes By is a play by A. A. Milne. First performed December 1, 1919, at the Gaiety Theatre, Manchester, it opened at the New Theatre in London January 5–30, 1920, and transferred to the Garrick Theatre (February 2 – April 24, 1920) and the Playhouse Theatre (April 25 – July 31, 1920), for a total of 246 performances. The Theatre Guild's Broadway production opened February 28, 1921, at the Garrick Theatre in New York City.

The play takes place at the Marden house in Buckinghamshire, whose inhabitants include George Marden, Olivia Marden (his wife), Dinah (their niece), Lady Marden (George's Aunt), Brian Strange (Dinah's fiancee), and Anne (their maid).

The title character, Mr. Carraway Pim, arrives at the Marden house to deliver a letter of introduction for George and is received first by Anne, then by Dinah, who tells Mr. Pim about her life (including her engagement the night before) and the lives of her uncle George and aunt Olivia. Brian enters and converses with Dinah about his attempts to tell her uncle about their engagement. Olivia enters, having overheard part of the conversation, and is delighted to learn of the engagement. She offers to help break the news to her husband.

George enters, seeking out Mr. Pim, who has since left; Olivia pushes the young couple to tell George of their engagement. While Olivia is optimistic about their future, George is heavily set against it, citing Brian's young, slow career as a "futuristic" artist as evidence that he and Dinah will be unable to support each other. George and Brian continue to clash on Brian's career, and George's views on marriage and politics before Olivia sends Brian and Dinah out for a walk. While they are out, Olivia tries to convince George of his hypocrisy and pessimism by questioning him on the motives behind their marriage, as well as their financial well-being. George stumbles and struggles to find answers for her questions while still justifying his decision regarding Brian and Dinah, while also becoming more and more impatient and uncomfortable with the back-and-orange curtains Olivia is sewing and planning to hang up. Olivia reminds George of the first man she fell in love with, and how her father had arranged for her to marry someone else, which resulted in a miserable marriage until her husband died.

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