In 1884 British author Robert Louis Stevenson wrote an essay in tribute of toy theater's tiny grandeur entitled "Penny Plain, Twopence Coloured."

Penny Plain (1920)

Penny Plain (1952)

Penny Plain (1967)

The revue and the trio were highly successful, and Lister commissioned further work from the pair for his next production, Penny Plain (1951).

I have been myself attempting for some time past to complete a play in a small toy theatre, the sort of toy theatre that used to be called Penny Plain and Twopence Coloured; only that I drew and coloured the figures and scenes myself.

It was first performed in the revue Oranges and Lemons (1948) and revived in Penny Plain (1951).

In 2011-12, he did an extensive Canadian tour of his new play, an apocalyptic comedy, Penny Plain.

He collaborated from 1942 with Joyce Grenfell for her West End revues (including Tuppence Coloured and Penny Plain) and her one-woman shows.

Our real one, of course, was a Bonzo postcard, but I told Antony a fairy tale about the Penny Plain, Twopence Coloured saying.