The Rivals: A Comedy

“The Rivals” is the first major comedy by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, a radical Irish actor and politician in George III's England. Not quite as complex and astute as his later “She Stoops to Conquer”, “The Rivals” remains a warm, unforgettable, and very, very funny play. Here we meet the chatty Mrs. Malaprop, who proudly tells us "if I reprehend anything in this world, it is the use of my oracular tongue, and a nice derangement of epitaphs"; her niece Lydia, lost in the world of lurid half-bound romantic novels; Sir Anthony Absolute, often wrong but never in doubt; Sir Lucious O'Trigger, of BlunderBuss Hall; and the rest. The dialogue and plot devices are well-crafted and funny; the social commentary is perceptive and satisfyingly naughty; but what stays with you is the humanity of each of the characters. These are not the caricatures of Restoration comedy, but personalities the reader will remember; ridiculous like all humans, but engendering empathy as well as laughter.

• Respect for Acting
• The Glass Menagerie: Acting Edition
• You Can't Take It with You: A Comedy in Three Acts (Acting Edition for Theater Productions)
• An Actor Prepares
• Macbeth (Folger Shakespeare Library)
• The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Dover Thrift Editions)
• The Little Seagull Handbook with Exercises (Third Edition)
• Frankenstein
• Language Awareness: Readings for College Writers
• To the Actor