Promotional postcard for Merely Mary Anne by Israel Zangwill. First produced at the Duke of York?s Theatre, 8th September 1904. Israel Zangwill's Victorian romance between a priggish musician and his chambermaid was one of the most widely adapted books of the early 20th century. Lancelot is a down on his luck musician with a noble lineage. His romantic entanglement with Mary Ann highlights both the Victorian class system and the societal anxiety of a civilization on the brink of radical change.