Richard Brinsley Sheridan
The last great playwright of English Restoration-style comedy, Sheridan skewered sentiment and pretension with elegant wit. He also managed Drury Lane Theatre and was a brilliant orator in Parliament. The School for Scandal is the finest social comedy in the English language.
Works
- The School for ScandalSatirical comedy exposing hypocrisy and scandal among London's fashionable society
- The RivalsComedy of manners about love, courtship, and witty banter among English gentry
- The CriticMetatheatrical comedy satirizing theatrical critics and the nature of dramatic art
- A Trip to ScarboroughComedy adapted from a restoration play about infidelity and moral corruption
- PizzaroTragedy featuring conquest and power in South American colonial setting
- St. Patrick's DayFarce involving military characters and romantic confusion during Irish celebrations