permission to present a private reading at the Théâtre Antoine in 1902. The play had a significant impact on Paris intellectuals. United States The first US productions of Damaged Goods were produced by the Sociological Fund, a fund created by the editors of the journal Medical Review of Reviews and led by Edward L. Bernays, who managed to raise $11,000 for the play. The actor Richard Bennett played George Dupont, who also served as a producer and public face of the production. The first performance of Damaged Goods, a special matinee for members of the Sociological Fund, occurred on March 14, 1913, at the Fulton Theatre on Broadway. The following month, the Sociological Fund arranged for a special performance of the play on April 6 at the National Theatre in Washington DC for US President Woodrow Wilson, members of Wilson's cabinet, and members of Congress. The play had its public premiere on May 14, 1913, at the Fulton Theatre. It played for 66 performances, exceeding its initially planned run of 14 performances due to unexpected demand. Following its Broadway run, Bennett took the play on tour across the country, where its success continued. Damaged Goods was briefly revived on Broadway at the 48th Street Theatre in May 1937 by Henry Herbert, who attempted to modernize the story. It was not well received by critics and played for only eight performances. England The first performance of Damaged Goods in England occurred on February 16, 1914, at London's Little Theatre. It was privately produced by the Authors' Producing Society and sponsored by the Society for Race Betterment. It was subsequently banned by British British censors. The ban was lifted in 1916, and a new production was staged in 1917 at St Martin's Theatre by J. B. Fagan. It later toured around the country. In 1943, it was revived at Whitehall Theatre, having undergone some modernizing updates by Pollock. Australia A production of Damaged Goods was staged at Theatre Royal, Melbourne in December 1916. The play's subject matter reportedly led to a reaction of stunned silence from the audience after the final curtain fell on the show's premiere. Controversy The play's frank discussion of syphilis was shocking in its time, as sexually transmitted disease was considered a taboo topic. For example, the New York Times in its (positive) review of the 1913 Broadway production periphrastically referred to the play's subject matter as a