The Critic

work by Sheridan

Also known as: “The Critic, or a Tragedy Rehearsed”

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In full:: The Critic, or a Tragedy Rehearsed

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The Critic, burlesque drama in three acts by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, produced in Drury Lane, London, in 1779 and published in 1781.

A delightful satire on stage conventions, The Critic has always been thought much funnier than its model, The Rehearsal (1671) by George Villiers. It is the story of Puff, a literary public-relations man who has written a preposterous historical melodrama that embodies all the worst features of conventional verse dramas—among them bloated emotions, contrived plots, and absurd madness scenes. The critics of the title include the empty and pretentious poet Sir Fretful Plagiary and the petty, malicious critics Sneer and Dangle.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.