First produced in 1777 in London’s Drury Lane Theatre, Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s “The School for Scandal” is a rollicking British social farce filled with manners, mischief and marital mayhem. It is the story of Sir Oliver Surface and his two ne’er do well nephews Joseph and Surface joined by a cast of characters including Sir Peter Teazle and his wife, Lady Teazle and a group of gossips led by Lady Sneerwell.
The play remains a crowd pleaser and is performed to this day. Binghamton University’s Special Collections holds a beautiful rendition of the play published in London by Hodder & Stoughton. Illustrated by Hugh Thomson, the text is accompanied by a number of colored plates which brilliantly illustrate the play’s characters.