In the following essay, Sheri Metzger discusses the merits of viewing a production of School for Scandal as opposed to merely reading the play. She also discusses the cultural problems—notably the anti-Semitism that is woven throughout the drama—that prevents a wider contemporary audience from embracing and fully appreciating Sheridan's work.
I often tell my students that a play needs to be seen and heard to be properly appreciated. Reading a play requires an ability to visualize, and it is very difficult to manage this visualization without a careful scrutiny of the stage directions and some experience reading drama. This notion is especially true for Richard Brinsley Sheridan's School for Scandal, which makes the reader wish for a fine production to view.
John Gielgud as Joseph Surface in a 1937 production...
Source: Drama for Students, ©2013 Gale Cengage. All Rights Reserved. Full copyright.
(The entire page is 1598 words.)
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