Ching Ling and the Magic Peach

With the blessings of the Emperor, a young Chinese princess of the 7th Century is rescued from a forced marriage with the Genie of the River in a play first produced during the 1950-51 season by the Children's Fine Arts Guild for a three month run at Rose Lynch's Royal Playhouse in New York City. In two acts, it was presented for several years in off-Broadway theaters as well as in London and in Copenhagen. The "Emperor of Cathay" opens with an introduction to "The land of silk, Serike, the flowery land, blossoming with plum and peach trees in the spring. . . ."

The playwright had a successful career as the leading lady in many Broadway plays during the 1920s and 30s opposite leading men who included Edward G. Robinson, Robert Montgomery, and Frank Craven. She also wrote plays. Her first, Mrs. Partridge Presents, written in collaboration with Ruth Hawthorne, ran a year on Broadway. In later years, she wrote a number of children's plays. In all, ten of her plays have been produced.

In 1921, Kennedy married the celebrated composer and musical authority Deems Taylor, with whom she had one child, Joan Kennedy Taylor, herself a playwright, author, and well known individualist feminist. This edition of the play has been brought back into print by Mary Kennedy's grandson, asset management fund director Michael Cook.