Lincoln Wagenhals and Collin Kemper originally staged Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood's three-act play The Bat in 1920. Cornelia Van Gorder and her guests spend a rainy night at her leased summer home looking for stolen money they think is concealed there while being followed by a disguised intruder known as "the Bat." This is a comedy with mystery elements. At the conclusion of the last act, The Bat's identity is made known. The Circular Staircase, a 1908 mystery novel by Rinehart, served as the inspiration for the original play's plot. In order to adapt the story for the stage, Rinehart and Hopwood added the titular antagonist. The Selig Polyscope Company, who produced the 1915 motion picture adaptation of the book with the same name, The Circular Staircase, engaged in a legal battle over the film rights as a result of the relationship to the book. The piece premiered as The Bat at the Morosco Theatre on Broadway on August 23, 1920, after performing as A Thief in the Night during previews. Both critically and financially successful, The Bat. There were 327 performances in London and 867 in New York, and various road companies toured the show to other cities