Money and love, and their interaction are often a matter for comedy, and this play is a classsic of that genre. the Surface brothers are engaged in the pursuit of both money and love, and are trying to swim in the society of upper class England in the 1760's. Joseph is an unlikeable hypocrite and his brother Charles has an amount of familial and emotional honesty. Very few of the characters get any mercy from the author, who as an Irish outsider, in his own life, has a clear vision of the the people he had to deal with in reality. Sheridan gives us the pleasure of condemning others for their weaknesses while insulating us from too much introspection. The play is quite witty and plays well on the stage. ( )

too maddening to be entertaining, at least to me. ( )

In Jane Austen's Mansfield Park's this is on the list of of potential plays to perform.

Witty, full of backhanded complements, polite insults. It made me laugh. ( )

The full-cast recording of this classic play sees a small circle of the uppercrust encountering the perils of scandal-mongering when some of their members become the subject of gossip. There's false identities, several rounds of hiding in the same room, and plenty of misunderstanding with an ultimately happy resolution. I could have sworn I read this in a course on Restoration drama during undergrad but the post play interview with the director notes that this play isn't technically part of the Restoration so it's possible I haven't read this one before after all. An enjoyable way to spend a few hours. ( )

Hilarious play of snotty gossips and how they get their comeuppance. ( )